South Korea’s volatility interruption (VI) mechanism was triggered 6,646 times in October, while the year-to-date total reached a record 53,372 through October. According to Odaily, Korea Exchange data showed the October count was about 1.8 times the average for August and September, and the year-to-date total exceeded the previous full-year record of 35,523, set in 2020.
The KOSPI’s average daily volatility rose to 3.58% last month from 2.07% in September. As of 10:40 on November 4, the KOSPI 200 Volatility Index, known as VKOSPI, stood at 55.68 after rising for four consecutive trading days. The index topped 80 in late July, then fell to the 30s early last month before climbing above 50 again amid renewed concerns about AI profitability.
Kang Hye-seong, a researcher at Sangsangin Securities, said declines in global semiconductor stocks during the third-quarter earnings season had also increased volatility in South Korea’s stock market. Kang said investor sentiment may not fully recover until the earnings models of leading AI companies become clearer and revenue and cash flow at large cloud service providers are confirmed.
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