Global memory chip selloff deepens as KOSPI triggers circuit breaker, SK Hynix ADR falls below IPO price
KOSPI fell over 8% Tuesday, triggering a circuit breaker and a 20-minute halt. SK Hynix dropped over 11%, Samsung over 9%. SK Hynix's US shares $SKHY closed below their $149 IPO price. Nvidia $NVDA fell nearly 5%, ceding its title as most valuable company to Apple $AAPL. Per Trad
South Korea's KOSPI index fell more than 8% during Tuesday's Asian session, triggering a circuit breaker and a 20-minute trading halt, as a global memory chip selloff deepened. SK Hynix dropped more than 11% intraday and Samsung Electronics fell more than 9%. SK Hynix's US-listed shares (SKHY) closed below their $149 IPO price at $143.02, making it one of 2026's first mega IPOs to fall underwater within weeks of listing. The rout was triggered by an overnight slide on Wall Street, where Nvidia (NVDA) fell nearly 5% and lost its title as the world's most valuable company to Apple (AAPL), while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index closed down more than 2%. Adding to the pressure, China's ChangXin Memory Technologies surged more than 400% on its Shanghai STAR Market debut, sharpening investor fears about rising Chinese competition in memory chips. The swing shows how concentrated the AI hardware rally has become: a large share of the sector's 2026 gains now moves on Nvidia's daily performance rather than on each chipmaker's individual earnings. Per TradingKey.