#韩国KOSPI暴跌触发熔断 Today (8th), both Japanese and South Korean stock markets opened lower, with the Nikkei 225 stock average index falling more than 4% intraday, and the KOSPI plunging over 8%.

Tokyo stock market Nikkei index drops sharply at the open
Affected by the broad decline in U.S. stocks on the previous trading day and uncertainties in the Middle East, the Tokyo stock market plummeted after opening on the 8th, with the Nikkei 225 stock average index dropping over 2,700 points intraday, a decline of more than 4%.
In the early morning, previously strong sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors experienced concentrated sell-offs, with stocks like Edwan Testing, Tokyo Electron, and SoftBank Group leading the declines.
Market participants believe that investor expectations of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates have increased, causing U.S. long-term government bond yields to rise, putting pressure on the stock market. Meanwhile, ongoing tensions in the Middle East have heightened market risk aversion. Against this backdrop, Japanese tech stocks that had previously gained significantly are facing profit-taking pressure, and short-term volatility in the Tokyo stock market may intensify.

Korean stock market opens with a crash and triggers circuit breaker
As global semiconductor stocks enter a correction phase, the KOSPI plunged over 8% at the open on the 8th, triggering a market circuit breaker.
The Korea Exchange announced that, starting from 9:03:42 a.m. local time on the 8th, trading of the KOSPI was suspended for 20 minutes. As a result, all stock trading in the Korean securities market was temporarily halted, and related futures and options markets also suspended trading simultaneously.
When the circuit breaker was activated, the KOSPI was at 7,474.74 points, down 685.85 points from the previous trading day, a decline of 8.40%.
Meanwhile, the Kosdaq index, often called the “Korean version of the Nasdaq,” also dropped sharply after opening that day, triggering a “temporary suspension” mechanism.