South Korea’s KOSPI tripped a circuit breaker and Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Taiwan’s benchmark fell more than 6% early on Friday as chip and AI-linked stocks sold off. Australia and New Zealand slipped more modestly.
MoneyTurkey Foreign Markets Desk | 6 November 2026, 01:30 London
Key points
- KOSPI down 8.42% at 4,930.54; Korea Exchange halted trading for 20 minutes from 09:03 Seoul time.
- Taiwan Weighted down 8.93% at 37,862.82; Nikkei 225 down 6.35% at 57,197.55.
- S&P/ASX 200 down 0.70% at 9,001.30; NZX 50 down 0.41% at 14,033.76.
North Asian equity benchmarks dropped sharply in Friday’s opening hour, led by semiconductor and AI-linked names. Yonhap reported that Seoul’s selling followed a tech rout on Wall Street, which it linked to concerns that the Democrats’ sweeping win in the US midterms could slow the build-out of AI data centres. Australia and New Zealand traded lower, but their losses were far smaller.
Indices in early trade
As of about 01:23 London (Yahoo Finance delayed quotes, moves versus Thursday’s close):
- KOSPI: 4,930.54, down 8.42% from 5,383.80.
- Taiwan Weighted: 37,862.82, down 8.93% from 41,574.72.
- Nikkei 225: 57,197.55, down 6.35% from 61,077.90.
- S&P/ASX 200: 9,001.30, down 0.70% from 9,065.10.
- NZX 50: 14,033.76, down 0.41% from 14,090.97.
The Korea Exchange activated a first-level circuit breaker on the KOSPI at 09:03 Seoul time (00:03 London) after the index fell more than 8% from the previous close, halting trading for 20 minutes, according to Yonhap and the Korea JoongAng Daily. Trading resumed at about 09:23 via a 10-minute single-price auction. The JoongAng Daily said a sell-side “sidecar” curb on program trading was also triggered on the KOSPI at 09:34.
Company movers
Chip and tech heavyweights led the declines, as of about 01:23 London versus Thursday’s close: SK Hynix fell 11.23%, Advantest 11.33%, SoftBank Group 11.08%, TSMC 9.60%, Samsung Electronics 8.73% and Tokyo Electron 8.59%. Selling spread beyond tech, with Hyundai Motor down 8.35% and Mitsubishi UFJ down 6.12%.
Currencies
Currency moves were small next to equities. USD/JPY was around 157.77, USD/KRW around 1,354.95, AUD/USD around 0.6933 and NZD/USD around 0.5592 (Yahoo Finance, about 01:23 London).
What to watch
- Whether KOSPI selling deepens after the circuit-breaker restart
- Chip names in Seoul, Taipei and Tokyo
- Hong Kong and mainland China cash opens
- Whether Sydney and Wellington keep their losses contained
For information only. Not investment advice.
Sources
- Yahoo Finance quotes: KOSPI, Taiwan Weighted, Nikkei 225, S&P/ASX 200, NZX 50
- Yonhap: Trading of KOSPI stocks suspended amid tech sell-off
- Korea JoongAng Daily: Kospi plunges 8.5% as AI fears trigger circuit breaker
