Seoul Markets Diverge Monday: Kospi Plunges 3.17% at Open While Won Hits 25-Month High Monthly Average
South Korea's benchmark Kospi index plunged 3.17 percent at Monday's open, led by semiconductor heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, as Asia's markets sold off amid the global unwinding of the artificial-intelligence trade; Japan's Nikkei fell about 2 percent in early trade and Taiwan's market dropped about 1.65 percent. Sentiment was weighed by U.S. inflation concerns and a heavy week of big-tech earnings. The won, by contrast, stayed relatively firm: its average rate over the first 16 days of October was 1,342.6 per U.S. dollar, the strongest monthly average in 25 months, though dealers said the currency came under some pressure early Monday as stocks tumbled and dollar buying emerged. A foreign-exchange dealer at KEB Hana Bank said markets are weighing Korea's exports and chip cycle, foreign investors' equity repositioning and the U.S. rate path. GSM previously reported that the National Pension Service booked more than 182 trillion won in unrealised losses on domestic equities in the third quarter, mainly from semiconductor names. Investors this week will watch U.S. tech earnings and the start of Korea's third-quarter reporting season.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：首尔汝矣岛金融区（资料图）。Ox1997cow 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，取自维基共享资源。Photo: Yeouido skyline, Seoul (file photo). By Ox1997cow, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
