Samsung and SK Hynix Lose $118 Billion as South Korea's KOSPI Slides 4%
Written by AI from fourweekmba.com's report. Not checked by a person.
South Korea's two biggest chipmakers shed a combined $118 billion in market value on November 5 as investors feared that a Democrat-controlled US Congress would tighten AI data-centre regulations, hitting chip demand.
South Korea's stock market suffered a severe sell-off on November 5, 2026, triggered by the Democratic Party's victory in the US midterm elections. Investors feared that the new Democratic-led Congress could tighten regulations on AI data centres, reducing demand for the high-bandwidth memory chips that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix supply. By midday Seoul time, SK Hynix had fallen 8.4% to 1,279,000 won and Samsung Electronics had dropped 5.7% to 205,500 won, together erasing approximately $118 billion in combined market value. The broader KOSPI index fell as much as 5.2% before paring losses to around 4.0%. The Korea Exchange activated a sell-side trading sidecar at 10:16 a.m. local time after the KOSPI 200 futures index dropped sharply, suspending program trading for five minutes. By contrast, major Wall Street indexes had finished higher overnight. Despite the near-term selling pressure, a Meritz Securities note relayed on X said memory orders from chipmakers for 2027 and 2028 far exceed supply capacity, and that any delays from the Democratic sweep are unlikely to change the supply shortage materially.
