Investing.com — shares slid 11.3% to ₩1,847,000, on Thursday, reversing the prior session’s sharp rally, as a broad sell-off in U.S. chipmakers overnight spilled into Asian semiconductor markets and dragged the entire Korean tech sector lower.
The selloff reflects mounting investor anxiety that the AI-driven semiconductor rally has become overly crowded, especially with semiconductors now representing an extraordinarily large share of major equity indices — a concentration level that is historically difficult to sustain.
The move is amplified by structural factors unique to SK Hynix’s current situation. Since its record-breaking Nasdaq listing on July 10, the stock has experienced extreme session-to-session swings, with newly launched leveraged single-stock ETFs mechanically magnifying intraday moves in both directions.
The company’s U.S.-listed ADR fell sharply in the preceding overnight session, directly feeding into today’s Seoul decline, and with quarterly earnings due on July 22, pre-result uncertainty is adding another layer of caution for investors.
The broader Korean market context is severe. The opened down approximately 4.5% at 6,960.50, prompting the Korea Exchange to trigger a sell-side sidecar — the 19th such halt this year and the 37th sidecar event of 2026 overall — suspending program sell orders for five minutes just after the open. Domestic rival dropped more than 7% in the same session, while fell more than 5%, confirming the weakness is sector-wide rather than company-specific. Geopolitical risk also weighed heavily, as fresh U.S. military strikes on Iran revived concerns over energy supply disruptions from the Middle East.
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