Svmuu News: U.S. chipmaker stocks fell overnight, which in turn affected Asian stock markets. South Korea’s KOSPI index fell as much as 6.1% on Friday, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both dropping more than 7%; the Korea Exchange temporarily suspended algorithmic trading. In recent weeks, this safety measure has been triggered with increasing frequency in South Korea’s stock market, which has a market capitalization of $4.1 trillion. Friday’s sell-off came as investors sought to reduce risk ahead of the weekend, with tensions in the Middle East having pushed oil prices to around $100 per barrel.
After four consecutive days of net buying, global investors resumed selling Korean stocks, primarily offloading technology shares. Shawn Oh, head of Korean cash equities at NH Investment & Securities, said, “As tensions in the Middle East persist, local funds are reducing their holdings of technology stocks and cutting risk ahead of the weekend, and downside risks appear to be magnified.”
Roy Lim, an equity sales trader at Samsung Securities, said that some Asian hedge funds are selling shares of Samsung and SK Hynix to increase their holdings of China’s Changxin Technology, which is set to go public on July 27. (Jin Shi)