Why were stock markets so volatile this week? Experts explain

Описание: 롤러코스터같은 일주일을 보낸 코스피, 앞으로의 전망은 어떻게 될까? 전문가들은 이렇게 말했다

The local bourse witnessed dramatic fluctuations this week as it sought to maintain its five-thousand mark and our Park Jun-han reached out to pundits for their take on the latest market action.
Do take a listen.

South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI delivered one of its most dramatic roller-coaster weeks in recent memory, with three sessions seeing moves of more than 5 percent either up or down, triggering a sidecar that halts program trading for five minutes.
Upon opening on Friday, the local market saw another downturn as the index fell below 5-thousand again, which triggered yet another sell-side sidecar at 9:06 AM amid continued global tech pressure and a weaker won.
By the KOSPI's close on Friday at 5-thousand-89-point-14 points, down 1-point-44 percent from Thursday, the index had recovered part of its intraday losses, though the week was marked by brutal volatility — plunging on Monday, rising on Tuesday and Wednesday, and retreating again on Thursday and Friday.
The volatility was mainly driven by global investors' skepticism over AI investment sustainability, U.S. rate policy uncertainty, and risk aversion moves against speculative assets like Bitcoin and precious metals.

“Domestically, the benefits from the semiconductor sector are still carrying through to some extent. However, Korea’s stock market cannot fully decouple from the movements of the U.S. market. With U.S. stocks showing signs of weakness recently, combined with foreign investors’ less supportive fund flows, these factors are contributing to heightened volatility in the local market.”

Domestically, while semiconductor tailwinds persist and individual investors showed resilience, foreign outflows and currency volatility amplified the moves.
Also, as one economics professor noted, the market's rapid prior run-up made a correction inevitable.

"The KOSPI has been rising so dramatically for the last I think 6 months, the price went up almost 100 percent. So the greatest surge in the KOSPI was necessitated because of such a great ride. So I think a correction is necessary, you know, for the good of the KOSPI market."

Looking forward, volatility is likely to stay elevated.
While experts remain constructive on the long-term outlook, caution is warranted in the near term as investors closely watch corporate earnings, Federal Reserve signals, and won-dollar movements.

Over the longer run, a rebound in confidence in the AI cycle and resilient demand for Korean chips could help the index stabilize and move higher, but sharp near-term swings remain a clear risk.

Park Jun-han, Arirang News.

#KOSPI_Volatility #StockMarketKorea #SidecarActivated #arirangnews #arirang #코스피변동성 #사이드카발동 #주식전망 #아리랑뉴스 #아리랑

📣 Facebook :   / arirangtvnews  
📣 Youtube :    / Канал  
📣 Homepage : https://v2.arirang.com/

2026-02-06, 17:00 (KST)