Breaking: Asian Stocks Crash as KOSPI Drops 8%, Nikkei −5%, Gold Rebounds

South Korea’s stock market faced heavy selling on Thursday, 15 Oct. According to Reuters, the KOSPI fell about 8%, or 480.76 points, to 5,528.05 at 03:38 GMT, triggering a first-stage circuit breaker that halted trading for 20 minutes. Shortly before that, the KOSDAQ had dropped 8.01%, triggering its own circuit breaker at 03:23 GMT. Korea JoongAng Daily said it was the first time since 29 Jul that both markets were halted on the same day.

Seoul Economic Daily reported that when the circuit breaker hit, the KOSPI stood at 5,527.12, down 8.02% from the previous close of 6,008.81. Heavyweights fell sharply: Samsung Electronics dropped about 9.7–9.9% and SK hynix lost more than 11%. Foreign investors were net sellers of about 2.9 trillion won (about $2 billion). The KOSPI fell for a 7th straight day, its longest losing streak since Sep 2024. In Japan, AP reported that the Nikkei 225 fell about 5% to 64,334.68, and Taiwan’s index dropped 3.4%.

The selling followed on from Wall Street overnight. US CPI for September rose to 3.7% y/y from 3.4% the month before, raising fears that the Fed will need to keep hiking. The Nasdaq closed 1.9% lower and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 4.3%, according to AP and Reuters. Seoul Economic Daily also noted market worries about the debt used to fund AI infrastructure, amid growing questions over whether it will generate enough revenue.

Currency and bond markets told a different story. The US 10-year yield eased to around 5.10% after jumping above 5.32% yesterday (AP). The dollar fell about 0.47% to around 102.06, and the yen (USD/JPY) strengthened to 157.69. Gold rebounded about 1% to around $4,147 an ounce, according to Trading Economics and FXStreet, which said the support came from lower yields and a softer dollar. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Fed’s Mary Daly said rates may need to rise again but there is no need to rush in October. The won weakened about 0.44% to 1,348.2 per dollar. See the latest central bank rates on the central bank rates page

What to watch: where Asian markets close today, and whether the selling spreads to Europe and the US later today. The US releases retail sales and the producer price index (PPI) today, and on Friday Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is scheduled to speak at the IMF/World Bank meetings in Bangkok, which should show how the Fed views 3.7% inflation. If stocks keep falling, gold and the yen could get safe-haven support, but if today’s data come in hot again, yields and the dollar could rebound and pressure gold. See all release times on the economic calendar and this morning’s market overview in Forex News 15 Oct.