# South Korea’s KOSPI Drops 7.56% as Japan’s Nikkei Falls 4.9%

By Enna Lee

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/investing/32346
Published: 2026-10-15T06:54:08.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-15T06:54:08.000Z
Section: Investing

> The KOSPI fell more than 9% intraday and South Korea’s market triggered its 10th circuit breaker this year before losses narrowed.

South Korea’s KOSPI closed down 7.56% Thursday after falling more than 9% intraday, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 4.9%, marking a steep selloff across two major Asian markets.

The KOSPI shed 454.54 points to 5,554.27. South Korea’s stock market triggered its 10th circuit breaker of the year during the decline. Losses narrowed after financial regulators convened an emergency meeting in the afternoon.

The Nikkei 225 dropped 3,318.34 points to finish at 64,425.95. Its decline was smaller in percentage terms than South Korea’s, though both indexes ended sharply lower.

South Korean chip stocks also weakened. SK Hynix was preliminarily down 11.06% at the close, while Samsung Electronics fell 9.48%.

The KOSPI’s closing loss was less severe than its intraday slide, showing that the benchmark recovered some ground before the session ended. The final decline remained 2.66 percentage points deeper than the Nikkei’s, leaving South Korea with the sharper of the two market selloffs.