As AI-driven global risk aversion spread, the KOSPI closed down nearly 4%. Individuals in the domestic stock market moved to ‘buy’ more than 7 trillion won, setting an all-time record for net purchases, but foreigners, for the first time, were net sellers of more than 5 trillion won, dragging the index lower. Financial assets including the won, Bitcoin, and silver also tumbled en masse.

That day, the KOSPI ended trading at 5163.57, down 207.53 points (3.86%) from the previous day. After rebounding 8.5% over two days following ‘Black Monday’ on the 2nd, the KOSPI slumped again, surrendering the 5200 level.

Although individuals posted net purchases of more than 6 trillion won on the KOSPI for the first time ever, institutions dumped 2 trillion won and foreigners more than 5 trillion won, making it insufficient to defend the index. For the domestic market as a whole, institutions were net sellers of about 2.6 trillion won and foreigners about 5.3 trillion won, while individuals were net buyers of 7.6674 trillion won.

The Kosdaq also closed at 1108.41, plunging 41.02 points (3.57%) from the previous session.

Recently, highly volatile virtual assets and gold and silver also plunged. On Upbit, a domestic cryptocurrency exchange, Bitcoin fell more than 5% intraday, marking its lowest level in 14 months since December 2024.

International spot silver also crashed more than 15% intraday, and domestic gold prices dropped more than 3%.

The broad sell-off in financial assets came as anxiety mounted on heightened concerns over worsening AI profitability. Alphabet (Google), which operates ‘Gemini’, said in its earnings release that it would significantly expand investment, amplifying worries that AI investment competition will erode profitability. Chipmaker AMD also reported revenue that missed market expectations, causing semiconductors to wobble particularly hard. Reflecting this, profit-taking concentrated in the domestic market, leading to a sharp slump.

As foreigners engaged in an ‘unprecedented net sell-off’ in the domestic stock market that day, the won-dollar exchange rate in the Seoul foreign-exchange market ended weekly trading at 1469 won per dollar, up 18.8 won from the previous session.