South Korea halts stock trading after more than 8% drop

The South Korean stock exchange KOSPI enters turbulent waters on 28 July 2026. After a drop of more than 8%, trading is temporarily halted, and chip giant SK Hynix sees its US listing fall sharply. The situation raises questions about the broader impact on the technology and AI sector.

Trading on KOSPI halted after heavy price drop

South Korea intervenes on the stock exchange after the KOSPI loses more than 8% in a single trading day. Authorities activate a so-called circuit breaker, halting trading for twenty minutes. It is the eighth time this year that such an emergency stop has been triggered on the South Korean exchange, indicating that the market has been under pressure for some time.

The cause of the market panic appears to be broad-based. Investors react en masse by selling positions, further amplifying the decline. More details about the immediate cause are reported by Money Today.

SK Hynix ADR falls below $140

Chipmaker SK Hynix feels the blow immediately. The company’s American depositary receipt, traded under the ticker SKHY, drops below the $140 mark to $139.45. That represents a loss of nearly 12% in 24 hours. The downward trend is clearly visible on the chart, with the price having traded below the key moving averages for some time. The 30-day MA stands at $152.62, while the price remains well below that level.

SK Hynix is one of the world’s largest memory chip suppliers and plays a key role as a provider of high-bandwidth memory for AI processors. Any further weakening of this stock could therefore have implications for the broader AI hardware supply chain. The 24-hour trading volume in USDT amounts to more than $811.000, indicating limited liquidity and hence extra price volatility.