KOSPI Index Plunges 4% Intraday; Samsung and SK Hynix Tumble, Xtrackers MSCI Korea UCITS ETF (02848.HK) Nears 7% Drop in Morning Session

NewTimeSpace Wire: On February 2, South Korea's benchmark KOSPI Index plunged 4% during the trading session, with market heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix among the hardest hit. CSOP Xtrackers MSCI Korea UCITS ETF (02848.HK) tumbled nearly 7% by midday. Notably, the fund has still gained 135.79% over the past year.

HKEX data shows Xtrackers MSCI Korea UCITS ETF (02848.HK) tracks the MSCI Korea 20/35 Custom Index, a "capped index" designed by MSCI to comply with EU UCITS fund regulations. The methodology maintains representation and investability across South Korea's large- and mid-cap equity market while mitigating single-company concentration risk through hard weighting caps. Top ten constituents include SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, NAVER, Hyundai Motor, and Shinhan Financial Group.

On January 26 local time, U.S. President Donald Trump posted a bombshell statement on his social media platform Truth Social, announcing a sharp tariff hike on South Korean exports—including automobiles, lumber, and pharmaceuticals—from 15% to 25%, citing the Korean National Assembly's failure to ratify previously agreed trade deals. The move, which has yet to be formalized through official White House executive notification, instantly roiled global trade dynamics and has cast a shadow over bilateral U.S.-Korea trade relations.

Wind data shows that in the exchange-traded equities market, domestic individual and institutional investors net purchased KRW 788.6 billion and KRW 111.8 billion respectively. However, foreign investor selling of KRW 932.6 billion drove the index decline.

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