The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) struggled Wednesday, falling to the 8,100 level during the session. Concerns that memory chip demand could decline weighed on the market, and SK Square (402340.KS), which had shown a clear upward trend until recently, widened its loss to more than 10%. Analysts also pointed to news that OpenAI is considering delaying its listing as a factor dampening momentum across Asian markets, including the KOSPI.
According to the Korea Exchange, SK Square was trading at 1.7 million won Wednesday, down 199,000 won, or 10.48%, from the previous session. The stock fell as low as 1.624 million won during the session, recording the steepest decline among the KOSPI's top market-cap stocks. While SK Square closed up 5% the previous day on a surge in the value of its SK hynix stake, the stock came under selling pressure as SK hynix fell 8% Wednesday.
Beyond SK Square and SK hynix, most of the KOSPI's top market-cap stocks widened their losses. Samsung Electro-Mechanics, which had surged more than 7% on expectations of inclusion in a U.S. multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) exchange-traded fund (ETF), and Samsung SDS (3%) also turned lower. The KOSPI fell to as low as 8,126.84 points during the session, prompting the Korea Exchange to trigger a circuit breaker that halted all trading for 20 minutes.
Analysts attributed Wednesday's sharp KOSPI decline to underlying concerns over falling memory demand. Apple's 6% drop on Tuesday was linked to analysis that cost burdens from rising memory prices are materializing. Industry experts added that the KOSPI's nearly 9% rebound over the previous two sessions led to a recurrence of short-term profit-taking and the side effects of overconcentration in semiconductors. Indeed, Asian markets including the Nikkei (-4.9%) and Taiwan (-3%) also fell.
Meanwhile, while some observers suggested that news of OpenAI considering a listing delay could act as a variable, the prevailing analysis is that its impact on Wednesday's sharp decline was limited. "The delay of a mega-IPO like OpenAI also has the effect of easing concerns about a liquidity black hole," said Heo Jae-hwan, a researcher at Eugene Investment & Securities. Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, also said, "The impact on today's plunge is negligible."
