Ansem: SOL will return to $150 in the coming months.

South Korea’s stock market has fallen sharply for the second consecutive day. Chipmaker SK Hynix’s second-quarter earnings missed estimates, extending the sector’s slump, while retail investors have been cutting positions en masse. After closing down 10% on Tuesday, South Korea’s KOSPI index plunged another 8% on Wednesday. So far in July, the KOSPI has dropped over 30%, on track to record its worst monthly decline in history. The index rallied sharply earlier this year, with gains almost entirely driven by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. After closing down 14% on Tuesday, SK Hynix’s shares plummeted 12% on Wednesday, wiping out roughly one-fifth of its market value in two days. Investors are now awaiting earnings reports from Samsung Electronics and other major U.S. tech companies due on Thursday. (Jin10)

South Korean exchanges have activated the circuit breaker mechanism for the KOSPI index, suspending trading for 20 minutes. The KOSDAQ index had already triggered the circuit breaker earlier. The KOSPI index is currently down 8.17%.

According to Bitget market data, Hong Kong-listed storage concept stocks extended their losses from yesterday. CSOP 2x Long SK Hynix (07709.HK) fell over 25% again, CSOP 2x Long Samsung Electronics (07747.HK) dropped more than 16.6%, and Montage Technology (06809.HK) and GigaDevice Semiconductor (03986.HK) both declined over 10.5% once more.

Bitcoin mining and AI infrastructure company Ionic Digital, formed from the restructuring of bankrupt crypto lending platform Celsius, has completed a direct listing on the Nasdaq. The company’s stock opened at $50 and closed at $62.90, rising approximately 26% from the opening price to a corresponding market cap of around $2.8 billion. Founded in 2024, Ionic Digital completed its restructuring via the acquisition of Celsius Mining’s assets before expanding into AI and high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure. IPO research firm Renaissance Capital noted that, based on Nasdaq’s reference price of $53, the company’s implied valuation of roughly $2.4 billion makes it the largest direct listing case in the U.S. since 2021. After hours, Ionic Digital’s stock retreated 6.5% to $58.80.

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South Korea's stock market has recently been on a roller-coaster ride. The KOSPI index rose roughly 80% cumulatively over 10 weeks, before correcting around 40% in the subsequent five weeks — a swing far more volatile than major global indices. Data indicates that a 40% drop in the S&P 500 over five weeks would erase all its gains of the past five years, underscoring the extreme volatility of South Korea's current stock market movement. As of press time, the KOSPI index was down 7.9%.