Kospi Slumps 3.5% as Tech Stocks Drag Asian Markets Lower

South Korea's Kospi plunged 3.5% at the opening bell on Tuesday, cutting its 2026 gains to roughly 31% from a June high of nearly 116%.

Asian Markets

South Korea's small‑cap Kosdaq fell 1.03%. Memory chipmaker SK Hynix slid 4.07% and Samsung Electronics dropped 1.03%. Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 1.21% as technology and semiconductor names weakened. SoftBank Group tumbled 4.46%, Tokyo Electron fell 1.45% and Renesas Electronics slid 1.49%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.84%. Taiwan's Taiex rose 0.30% after opening lower.

US Markets

In the United States, the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.11% and the S&P 500 gained 0.41% after a mixed start on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped about 63 points, or 0.1%. The tech rebound followed a sharp weekly drop that had seen the Nasdaq record its steepest weekly decline since June and the S&P fall nearly 2% over the week. Investors were also watching upcoming earnings from Tesla and Meta Platforms.

India

India’s GIFT Nifty moved slightly lower, down three points to 22,889, a change of 0.01%. The Indian stock market stayed closed for the day because of the Dussehra holiday.

Context

Tech and semiconductor stocks often shape Asian market moves because they represent a large export sector for the region. A shift in US tech sentiment can quickly ripple through Asian indices.