KOSPI Plunges Over 5%, Breaching 6,000 Mark Intraday

The KOSPI closed at 6,035.35 on the 13th, down 5.46% (348.89 points) from the previous session, as concerns over the semiconductor industry and heavy foreign selling weighed on the market. The index briefly fell below the 6,000 mark during the day. According to the Korea Exchange, the index fell for a fifth consecutive session since Dec. 6, with the decline the largest since Aug. 19 (-5.80%). The index opened at 6,186.08, down 3.10% from the previous close, before sinking to as low as 5,911.11 (-7.41%), breaching the 6,000 level intraday.

Foreign investors' cumulative net selling in the securities market has surpassed 200 trillion won this year. Foreigners led the market's decline by net selling about 4.52 trillion won worth of shares on the day alone. Meanwhile, retail and institutional investors stepped in with net buying of 2.236 trillion won and 1.688 trillion won, respectively, helping ease the losses.

Large-cap semiconductor stocks took a heavy hit. Samsung Electronics closed at 232,000 won, down 7.39% from the previous session. SK Hynix tumbled 10.09% to 1.443 million won, extending its losing streak to a fifth session.

News that China's CXMT (ChangXin Memory Technologies) plans to unveil next-generation server DRAM was cited as a negative factor behind the market's drop. The market interpreted the news as deepening concerns over the semiconductor industry outlook.