Kospi goes from global outperformer to world's worst performer

A sharp sell-off in heavyweight chip stocks has made Korea’s Kospi the worst-performing major stock index in the world so far this month, market data showed Monday.

Nearly seven in 10 stocks listed on the Korea Exchange have posted losses. The tech-focused secondary index Kosdaq also ranked among the world's worst performers. 

The Kospi fell 17.11 percent between Oct. 1 and Friday, followed by Indonesia’s IDX Composite at 14.59 percent, China’s Shenzhen Composite at 7.4 percent and the Kosdaq at 7.14 percent, according to Korea Exchange and financial data provider Yonhap Infomax.

Except in March and July, the Kospi had consistently delivered some of the strongest monthly returns among major global stock indexes this year. In April alone, the index surged a remarkable 30.61 percent.

The rally lost steam in July, when the Kospi plunged 22.19 percent and the Kosdaq sank 21.44 percent. The Kospi recovered just 3.4 percent in August and 0.26 percent in September before falling more than 17 percent this month.

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the country’s two chip giants, led the slide, falling 19.74 percent and 28.38 percent, respectively, between Oct. 1 and Friday. The losses also extended to 652 Kospi-listed stocks and 1,247 Kosdaq-listed stocks which declined over the period.

BY SHIN HYE-YEON [[email protected]]