South Korea’s Kospi tanks 8% despite US-Iran war optimism. Here are 4 reasons why

South Korea's Kospi plunged 8.1% or 551 points to 6,250, triggering circuit breakers on programme trading. The sharp sell-off was driven by AI spending concerns, China's competitive threat after CXMT's blockbuster IPO debut, rising US Fed rate hike expectations (36.3% versus 16% a week ago), and weak global cues. SK Hynix fell 11% and Samsung Electronics declined 9.15%, dragging the broader MSCI Asia Pacific Index down 2.92%.