Seoul, June 26 (IANS) South Korea’s bourse operator on Friday activated a circuit breaker for the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) as stocks crashed due to a slump in tech heavyweights.

Trading of KOSPI-listed shares was halted for 20 minutes. The Korea Exchange (KRX) triggered the measure after the KOSPI plummeted more than 8 percent from the previous session’s close, reports Yonhap news agency.

The benchmark index came under heavy selling pressure as investors dumped large-cap technology stocks on profit-taking. It marked the fifth time this year that the KRX has activated a circuit breaker.

South Korean stocks extended losses as investors dumped tech shares to take profit from the previous session’s sharp rally amid lingering woes on artificial intelligence (AI) investment.

A selling spree by foreign and institutional investors weighed heavily on the market following a 5.42 percent spike the previous day.

Wall Street was choppy as tech heavyweights finished in negative territory amid lingering concerns over the future of large-scale investment AI infrastructure.

Latest data showed that U.S. consumer prices rose 4.1 percent in May, far higher than the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target, adding to projections that the central bank will change its monetary approach to tame the inflationary pressure.

In Seoul, semiconductor shares were among the biggest losers. Tech giant Samsung Electronics sank 6.56 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix slumped 7.16 percent.

Hanmi Semiconductor, a leading chip equipment manufacturer, dropped 4.4 percent, and SK Square, the parent of SK hynix, tumbled 9.58 percent.

Major shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean skidded 4.92 percent, and pharmaceutical giant Celltrion dipped 4.04 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,548.75 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., down 6.65 won from the previous session, said the report.

—IANS

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