U.S. Data Center Regulation Concerns Send KOSPI Plunging 6%... Foreign Investors Net Sell 2.8 Trillion Won [fn Market Close]

[Financial News] Growing concerns about tighter data center regulations following the U.S. midterm elections sent the KOSPI plunging more than 6%. The 5,000 mark gave way early in the session, triggering a circuit breaker. The index briefly recovered above 5,100 in the afternoon, but losses widened again late in the session. Foreign investors net sold more than 2.8 trillion won on the KOSPI Market.
According to the Korea Exchange (KRX) on the 6th, the KOSPI closed at 5,059.69, down 324.11 points (6.02%) from the previous trading day. At 9:03 a.m., it fell as low as 4,924.61, triggering a Level 1 circuit breaker. A sell-sidecar was also triggered at 9:34 a.m., just after trading resumed.
On the KOSPI Market, institutions and retail investors net bought 1.7818 trillion won and 531.4 billion won, respectively. Foreign investors net sold 2.8381 trillion won.
By sector, telecommunications (2.10%) and IT services (1.51%) rose. Electrical and electronics (-7.94%), medical and precision instruments (-7.24%), machinery and equipment (-6.55%), and securities (-5.74%), among others, fell.
Among the top stocks by market capitalization, Naver Corporation (1.78%) rose. SK Square (-10.26%), Samsung SDI (-8.84%), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (-8.26%), and SK (-7.98%), among others, posted steep declines.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each fell for a fourth consecutive trading day. Samsung Electronics closed at 188,800 won, down 12,700 won (6.30%) from the previous trading day, while SK Hynix closed at 1,142,000 won, down 122,000 won (9.65%).
The KOSDAQ (Korea Securities Dealers Automated Quotations), where a sell-sidecar was triggered early in the session, closed at 644.27, down 34.14 points (5.03%) from the previous trading day. Institutions net bought 204.6 billion won, while retail investors and foreign investors net sold 177.2 billion won and 30.8 billion won, respectively. This week, both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ fell in the 11% range, and the KOSDAQ declined for a fifth consecutive week.
In U.S. markets overnight, selling was concentrated in semiconductor stocks amid continuing concerns about regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, including Senator Bernie Sanders’s call for a pause in data center construction. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged more than 12%.
The securities industry expects volatility to persist for the time being, as the market reacts more sensitively to the possibility that regulatory remarks made after the midterm elections could become actual policy.
Lim Jeong-eun, a researcher at KB Securities, said, "Anxiety that there could be regulation, coupled with uncertainty about how extensive it might be, amplified the sharp declines in technology stocks." Lim added, "We expect the pattern of alternating sharp rises and falls to be unavoidable for the time being."
[email protected] Bae Han-geul Reporter