South Korea’s KOSPI Plunges 14.5% Amid Widening Market Stress

South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index fell 14.5% on Oct. 22, its steepest daily decline since October 2008, as widening AI credit spreads and energy-supply concerns coincided with broader risk-off pressure across markets.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix shares fell 17% to 24%. CoreWeave’s credit default swap (CDS) spread reached 1,128 basis points, compared with 300 basis points for Oracle, as technology-sector credit spreads widened.

Negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz have stalled amid concerns about energy supplies. The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve stood at 283 million barrels, down 30.5% from a year earlier.

Crypto markets also face a company-specific concern: Strategy could be removed from MSCI indexes during a November review. The company’s Bitcoin (BTC) purchases have slowed. The potential exclusion risk centers on MSCI’s November index review.