South Korea's Kospi, the world's best-performing major equity benchmark in 2026, slumped more than 6% on Thursday, briefly triggering a sidecar trading curb as investors fled AI-linked stocks amid a rate hike and mounting concerns over leveraged single-stock ETFs.
Kospi dropped 8% intraday to a low of 6,731 on Thursday, before recovering some losses to close at 6,820.60, snapping a two-session gaining streak. The index continues to remain in bear territory, as it has now fallen more than 27% from its June peak of 9,386. The recent selloff in South Korea’s stock market comes after a skyrocketing rally in tech stocks that pushed Kospi sharply higher. Despite the latest crash, the index is still up more than 58% in 2026 so far.
