South Korea's finance minister, central bank governor and financial regulators are set to meet to discuss market developments after the KOSPI's slide from its June peak deepened. The benchmark closed down 6% today, having been down near 13% at one point, and has given back 33% so far in July.
South Korea's finance minister, central bank governor and financial regulators are set to meet to discuss market developments as the KOSPI extends a negative streak into this week. The index was down near 13% earlier today after dropping over 10% yesterday, before losses were pared towards the close. By the closing bell, the drop had been salvaged to just 6%.
The 85% run that came first
In the run from April to the peak in June, the KOSPI gained 85%. Since then, according to investingLive, the AI trade went bust, and that has brought about heavy declines in the past five weeks.
The arithmetic now runs the other way. After the 85% climb in about 10 weeks, the index has dropped 40% in about six weeks, and panic is ensuing.
Still higher on the year
Context cuts against the alarm. Despite the 33% drop so far in July, the KOSPI is still trading up by some 34% this year.
The longer run is wider still: the market had surged by over 120% in six months. In 2025 alone, it posted 75% gains alone. investingLive argues those numbers should have served as a warning sign about the leverage and speculation being pumped into the market.
What there is to discuss
investingLive questions what South Korean authorities have to discuss, arguing they are the ones who built the setting for the retail leverage and highly concentrated market structure behind the swing. On the volatility itself, according to investingLive: "Markets never move in a straight line" — and the outlet expects a lot of people burned by the latest drop to learn that lesson.
A market that can swing 30-40% one way in a matter of weeks can do the same on the other side.
Source: investingLive
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