Regional winner becomes this week's biggest loser due to foreign selloff SEOUL, February 06 (AJP) - Markets across Asia flashed red Friday following a broad Wall Street pullback, with hitherto regional winner Korean stocks hardest hit by a global institutional selling spree. Losses in AI and big-tech shares on Nasdaq loomed over the KOSPI amid a decisive position shift by domestic and foreign institutions this week, setting off the second sell-side sidecar this week. Traders said the correction was inevitable after an almost nonstop rally this year February 6, 2026

KOSPI takes 4% hit for third session in a row, second sidecar activated in a week SEOUL, February 06 (AJP) – The downward spiral continued on the Seoul bourse Friday, with the main and secondary indices sliding more than 4 percent in early trading, triggering a sell-side sidecar for the second time this week. The Korea Exchange said a sell-side sidecar was activated on the main KOSPI board at 9:06 a.m. local time. The measure temporarily suspends program selling for five minutes to help contain excessive price swings. A sell-side sidecar is triggered when K February 6, 2026

More breach revelation, regulation, rivals exacerbate Coupang woes SEOUL, February 05 (AJP) -South Korea’s leading e-commerce platform Coupang said Thursday that the personal data of an additional 165,000 users had been leaked, deepening fallout from a massive breach disclosed last November and intensifying regulatory and political scrutiny. The company said the newly identified cases were part of the original breach, which exposed the personal information of more than 33 million users, and did not involve payment details, login credentials February 5, 2026

Freefall may be looming in Seoul as short selling mounts SEOUL, Feb. 05 (AJP) - “What goes up must come down,” the saying goes — and after a prolonged roller-coaster ride, Korean stocks plunged Thursday as heavy institutional selling triggered a sharp reversal. The immediate cue came from a retreat in U.S. technology shares. But the pullback was hardly unexpected, given the rapid buildup in short-selling positions and growing signs of speculative excess. Both the KOSPI and the secondary KOSDAQ tumbled nearly 4 perce February 5, 2026

Asian stocks mostly down on US losses, Korean markets take a header SEOUL, February 05 (AJP) -Korean stocks rode a volatile roller coaster downward Thursday on heavy foreign selling on global tech shares. The benchmark KOSPI tumbled 3.9 percent to close at 5,163.6, marking a steep pullback from recent record highs. The KOSPI 200 slid 4.2 percent to 757, reflecting broad-based losses among large-cap stocks, particularly in semiconductors and export-oriented names. Selling pressure was led by overseas and institutional investors. On the main boa February 5, 2026

Software tantrums shake Asian markets; Korean shares lose nearly 3% SEOUL, February 05 (AJP) - Asian stocks tracked Wall Street lower early Thursday, as fears over disruption in the software industry from rapid advances in artificial intelligence triggered broad selling. The Nasdaq suffered its worst two-day rout since last April’s “tariff tantrums,” as investors retreated from software stocks following the release of a suite of industry-specific AI tools, including systems capable of reviewing legal contracts developed by Anthro February 5, 2026

KOSPI and Samsung Elec tower over Asian bourses SEOUL, February 04 (AJP) - Korean stocks continued to dominate regional markets on Wednesday, extending their record-setting streak and reinforcing South Korea’s growing influence in Asian equities. Samsung Electronics powered the rally, becoming the first Korean company to surpass 1,000 trillion won ($688 billion) in market capitalization based solely on common shares. The milestone cemented the chipmaking giant’s role as the anchor behind the KOSPI’s push into February 4, 2026

Seoul's FX battle costs $4 bn over the last two months SEOUL, February 04 (AJP) - South Korea has deployed nearly every tool in its policy playbook to defend the won, which authorities say has weakened “excessively” beyond its fundamentals — a view shared even by the U.S. Treasury secretary. Measures have ranged from pressuring public and private institutions to sell dollar holdings to offering tax incentives aimed at drawing capital back home. Yet despite these efforts, the national coffers have paid a heavy price. February 4, 2026

UAE push into digital finance signals shift to nation-level blockchain adoption SEOUL, February 04 (AJP) - The United Arab Emirates is signaling a fundamental shift in the global cryptocurrency market as digital assets enter a "nation-level phase" of adoption, according to Xin Yan, the CEO of blockchain technology company Sign. Yan, whose firm has supported government blockchain initiatives in multiple countries including the UAE, said the transition is marked by a move from experimental pilot programs to systematic execution. This shift is expected February 4, 2026

Korean markets enjoy solo record-setting run despite broad Asian retreat SEOUL, February 04 (AJP) – South Korean bourses on Wednesday remained unfazed by broad Asian retreat following overnight Wall Street fall on concerns over disruption in the software sector. The KOSPI pushed onto new territory of 5,300, up 0.8 percent at 5,331.98 as of 11:00 a.m. and the secondary KOSDAQ also up 0.8 percent at 1,153.36. Shares of Hyundai Motor and Kia rose in early trading as their U.S. units reported record sales results. Hyundai Motor’s U.S. subsi February 4, 2026