STOCKS | Japanese and South Korean Stocks Enter Bear Markets as Seoul Vows Measures Against Excessive Volatility

Japanese and South Korean stocks fell into bear-market territory on Friday as a sell-off in U.S. AI shares spread across Asia. According to Sina Finance, citing Cailian Press, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index was down 3% at 247.75 as of publication. South Korea’s KOSPI briefly plunged 8% after opening, falling below 5,000 and triggering circuit breakers, while the small-cap Kosdaq dropped more than 7%. The KOSPI was 47% below its record high of 9,385 in June. Samsung shares fell nearly 10% and SK Hynix dropped 11.7%. South Korea’s Finance Ministry said U.S. stock declines could spill over into global markets and that it would take necessary measures to prevent excessive volatility detached from fundamentals. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell more than 6%, extending its decline from its June peak to over 20%; the Topix was down 2.9%. SoftBank fell 16%, its steepest one-day decline since August 2024. Kioxia dropped 14% and Tokyo Electron lost nearly 9%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.9%. On Thursday, all three major U.S. stock indexes recorded their worst daily performances since April 2025. The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.5%, closing more than 10% below its recent high and entering correction territory. All 11 S&P 500 sectors declined, with AI infrastructure-related companies among the hardest hit. Investors were due to receive the U.S. October jobs report on Friday evening. The Dow Jones consensus forecast called for 59,000 jobs to be added and the unemployment rate to remain at 4.2%.