Asia Chip Rout Deepens: Kospi Halted, TSMC Falls 10%

Kospi was halted and Taiex opened 9% lower as AI stocks slid, with TSMC, Samsung and SK Hynix off 10-12% after Wall Street's worst chip day since 2020.

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Asian chip makers extended a global selloff in AI stocks on Friday, November 6, 2026. South Korea's Kospi fell as much as 8.8% in early trade, below 5,000 for the first time in nine months, and a Level 1 circuit breaker suspended trading for 20 minutes. In Taipei, the Taiex opened about 9% lower, while TSMC (TSM), Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell 10% to 12% at their lows.

What Happened in Asian Markets on Friday?

Asian equity markets opened sharply lower and the declines were concentrated in semiconductors. Samsung Electronics dropped 10.07% to 181,200 won, and SK Hynix lost 12.26% to 1,109,000 won. Together they shed about 225.6 trillion won, or roughly $166 billion, in market value from Thursday's close. The two companies account for more than half of the Kospi's capitalisation, so their moves dominate the index.

In Taiwan, TSMC touched its daily lower limit of NT$2,020, a fall of about 10%, and the Taiex hit an intraday low of 33,737.67. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell nearly 7% after the open.

Buyers returned later in the session. The Kospi closed at 5,109.73, down 5.1%, and the Taiex finished at 39,996.07, down 3.8%. TSMC ended about 4% lower. The Nikkei closed down 6% at 57,438, its largest one-day drop since April 2025. Mainland China and Hong Kong, less exposed to the AI hardware chain, fell about 1.3%.

Why Did Chip Stocks Fall So Sharply?

Chip stocks fell because Wall Street's AI trade broke on Thursday, and Asian suppliers of memory and foundry capacity are the most direct beneficiaries of US data-center spending. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 12.2%, the Nasdaq Composite fell 5.5% into correction territory, the S&P 500 lost more than 4% and the Dow shed about 1,800 points, or 3.4%. The VIX volatility gauge jumped 65% to 27.45.

The trigger was the Democratic sweep in the US midterm elections. Investors fear tighter rules on AI data-center construction. About 40% of planned US data-center capacity sits in states where governors or governors-elect have pledged or imposed a pause on new projects. That puts at risk the order books of Nvidia (NVDA), which buys high-bandwidth memory from Samsung and SK Hynix and relies on TSMC to manufacture its accelerators.

Profit-taking amplified the move after a year of large AI gains. Micron Technology stock (MU) fell double digits on Thursday, as did AMD (AMD). Leveraged products tied to chip indexes, including SOXL, which seeks three times the daily return of a US semiconductor index, magnify such swings.

What Comes Next for AI Stocks?

The near-term direction depends on whether the policy concern proves concrete. State-level moratoriums would delay data-center build-outs, which in turn would push out orders for memory and advanced chips. Federal action is a separate question and remains undefined.

Markets showed early signs of stabilisation. Nasdaq-100 futures rose about 1.5% in European morning trade, and Asian indexes recovered a large part of their intraday losses. Still, volatility is elevated, and Korean and Taiwanese benchmarks are heavily concentrated in a handful of names, which leaves them exposed to further sharp moves in either direction.

Outlook

Friday's session widened a US-led rout into Asia's export-dependent chip hubs. Circuit breakers worked as designed, and prices partly recovered by the close. The next tests are Monday's Asian opening, the pace of state-level data-center restrictions, and the next round of capital-spending guidance from major cloud customers.