South Korea's Kospi tops 8,000 then plunges over 6%
South Korea's Kospi index just had a wild ride: after hitting an all-time high above 8,000, it suddenly dropped over 6% in a single day. That wiped out much of its huge 90% gain for the year.
The big selloff was driven largely by heavy selling in technology stocks, with foreign investors also dumping shares, selling $3.7 billion of Kospi shares on a net basis that day and about $9.4 billion over the week.
Samsung Electronics plunges, drags Asian markets
The slide got worse when Samsung Electronics's stock plunged nearly 9%.
The reason? Over 4,500 workers are set to start an 18-day strike on May 21 after wage talks stalled, and Samsung's latest offer wasn't enough to stop it.
Since both Samsung and SK Hynix have driven most of Kospi's gains this year, their drop also dragged down other Asian markets like Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng.