By Kwanwoo Jun
South Korean stocks suffered their steepest drop in 10 months on Monday, snapping a four-session winning streak and triggering a brief trading halt as regulators moved to contain volatility.
The benchmark Kospi fell 5.3% to 4949.67, marking its sharpest daily percentage decline since April 7, 2025. The selloff led a broad retreat across Asian markets, following Friday's slump on Wall Street as investors digested President Trump's nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Large-cap technology and auto stocks, along with smelter shares, led the Kospi decline as investors took profits after recent gains.
Investors were increasingly inclined to book profits after last week's surge, amid uncertainty over the next Fed chair and a slump in precious metal prices, Kiwoom Securities analysts Han Ji-young and Lee Sung-hoon wrote in a note.
Foreign and institutional investors remained net sellers throughout the session, outweighing net buying by retail investors.
Index heavyweight Samsung Electronics fell 6.3% and Nvidia supplier SK Hynix dropped 8.7%. Car-maker Hyundai Motor slid 4.4%.
Korea Zinc plunged 12% as declines in gold and silver prices weighed on investor sentiment toward the world's largest zinc smelter, which also produces precious metals as a byproduct.
Earlier in the session, futures on the Kospi 200 index dropped by more than 5%, prompting the market operator to temporarily suspend trading.
The Korea Exchange activated its so-called "sidecar" limit mechanism at 12:31pm local time, suspending sell orders for five minutes before trading resumed.
Monday's move marked the Korea Exchange's first intervention this year to curb volatility. The operator activated its sidecar mechanism three times in 2025.
Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
02-02-26 0317ET
