Semiconductor Stocks Fail to Rebound Intraday as Sell Sidecars Triggered on KOSPI and KOSDAQ [Fn Afternoon Market Report]

[Financial News] Samsung Electronics and SK hynix turned higher after opening lower on the 20th, but they were pushed back down to losses of 3% to 4%. As volatility widened in major semiconductor stocks and KOSPI and KOSDAQ fell sharply together, sell sidecars were triggered on both markets, temporarily suspending the effectiveness of program sell orders.
As of 12:05 p.m. that day, Samsung Electronics was trading at 244,000 won, down 4.31% from the previous session. It opened at 241,000 won, down 5.49% from the previous close, and briefly rose 0.98% in early trading before falling again.
At the same time, SK hynix was down 3.75% at 1,773,000 won. It also opened 5.27% lower, recovered some of its losses, but later turned weak again.
Earlier, both stocks had closed sharply lower on the 16th, the last trading day before the Constitution Day holiday, falling 8.77% and 11.53%, respectively. U.S. markets also saw a correction in technology stocks on the 17th, when South Korea's markets were closed. The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.40% on July 17 local time, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 1.63%.
Moonshot AI's latest model, "Kimi K3," was also cited as one of the factors weighing on investor sentiment toward the semiconductor sector. Market watchers said the appearance of a series of Chinese AI models could intensify debate over whether Big Tech's massive AI infrastructure investment can continue.
Kang Jin-hyuk, a researcher at Shinhan Investment Corp., analyzed that "sentiment worsened as doubts grew over the sustainability of Big Tech capital spending following the release of Kimi K3, while the U.S. semiconductor sector remained weak during the holiday period."
The market slump triggered sell sidecars on both KOSPI and KOSDAQ. On KOSDAQ, the sell sidecar was triggered first at 10:52:54 a.m., and on the securities market, the effectiveness of program sell orders was suspended for five minutes at 11:21:26 a.m.
A sell sidecar on the securities market is triggered when the KOSPI 200 Index Futures remain down 5% or more from the previous day's close for one minute. At the time of activation, the KOSPI 200 Index Futures stood at 1,040.00, down 5.13% from the previous session.
On KOSDAQ, a sell sidecar is triggered when KOSDAQ 150 Futures fall 6% or more from the reference price and the KOSDAQ 150 Index also remains down 3% or more from the previous day's final level for one minute.
KOSPI and KOSDAQ are currently down 4.19% and 5.10%, respectively, at 6,534.76 and 751.42.
In terms of trading flows, foreign investors were net buyers of 432.5 billion won in the securities market, while individual and institutional investors were net sellers of 279.1 billion won and 178.5 billion won, respectively. On KOSDAQ, foreign investors and institutions were net sellers of 151.9 billion won and 46 billion won, respectively, while individual investors were net buyers of 199.9 billion won.

[email protected] Kim Mi-hee Reporter