● KOSPI Sinks 8.5%, Tracks Wall Street Crash

South Korea's Kospi opened sharply lower and tumbled 8.52% to 4,924.61 within minutes on Friday, triggering the Korea Exchange's 11th circuit-breaker halt of the year. The crash followed an overnight Wall Street rout where the Nasdaq sank 5.52% on fears a Democratic sweep in the US midterms could slow AI data-center spending. Chip names tracked by $SMH led the selloff on both sides of the Pacific, as investors reassess how fast the AI buildout can keep growing.