Kospi Crashes Below 5,600 as Bitcoin Soars Past $64,000

The South Korean Kospi index plunged below 5,600 for the first time in history after triggering two consecutive circuit breakers on Wednesday. The benchmark fell by over 8% to an intraday low of 5,532.33, surpassing its previous record drop from Tuesday. Despite this significant decline, Bitcoin (BTC) continued its upward trend, rising above $64,000.

The Korea Exchange implemented the market-wide circuit breakers for the first time in consecutive days, halting trading on both the Kospi and Kosdaq indices for 20 minutes. This unprecedented event was attributed to a combination of factors, including weakness in large semiconductor stocks, heavy foreign selling, and lingering concerns over supply-and-demand pressure from single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix remain the two most heavily weighted stocks on the Kospi index. Despite posting a 557% jump in quarterly profit, SK Hynix's shares fell sharply due to missing elevated expectations. Analysts have noted that semiconductor valuations across Asia have run ahead of fundamentals.