South Korea's stock benchmark plunged nearly 9% on Monday, tripping circuit breakers, after robust U.S. jobs data lifted bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike and unleashed a selloff in the tech-heavy market that had powered the broader AI rally.
The KOSPI fell as much as 8.8% in early trade, as chip heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix dropped more than 10% each.