KOSPI Circuit Breaker Triggers 7th Time in 2026 as Foreign Investors Dump Shares Over 8%

According to the Korea Exchange, yesterday KOSPI circuit breaker triggered for the seventh time in 2026 as foreign and institutional investors dumped shares simultaneously, with the index falling over 8%. This brought the total circuit breaker activations since the mechanism's introduction in 2000 to 13, with more than half occurring within the past seven months.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix led the decline. Notably, five of the seven circuit breakers in 2026 have occurred since late May, when single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds tracking Samsung and SK Hynix were listed. Historically, KOSPI rebounded the following trading day in 75% of cases following circuit breaker triggers; however, recent declines have continued downward, with the index falling an additional 5.4% the day after a July 7 circuit breaker activation, as forced liquidations and margin call sell-offs have intensified selling pressure rather than attracting bargain buyers.