KOSPI touches all-time 8,046 intraday, circuit breaker fires, closes -6.1%

South Korea's KOSPI broke the 8,000 barrier for the first time on May 15, 2026, reaching an intraday high of 8,046.78 — just seven trading sessions after clearing 7,000 on May 6. The index opened at 7,951.75 before pushing through the milestone in the morning session. KB Securities responded by lifting its KOSPI year-end target from 7,500 to 10,500 on the same day.

The rally reversed sharply in the afternoon. Heavy profit-taking and a surge in foreign selling pushed KOSPI 200 futures down more than 5%, triggering a sell-side circuit breaker — a mechanism that temporarily halts program sell orders. The benchmark closed at 7,493.18, a decline of 6.12% from the prior session, with an intraday low of 7,371.68.

The divergence in investor behavior was stark. Foreign investors net sold over KRW 5 trillion in a single session on May 15, bringing cumulative net selling over the prior seven trading days to more than KRW 31 trillion. Domestic retail investors purchased a net KRW 30 trillion over the same stretch but could not absorb the institutional pressure. Margin trading balances climbed above KRW 36 trillion near a record, while short-selling volume spiked in tandem.

Bond and currency markets moved in parallel. South Korea's 3-year government bond yield climbed to 3.766%, and the Korean won broke through the psychologically critical 1,500 per dollar level intraday for the first time since April 7. Analysts described the session's volatility as "war-level" while maintaining that upward revisions to corporate earnings forecasts keep the medium-term trend intact. Key watch: Q2 2026 earnings season and whether foreign outflows signal a structural rotation away from Korean equities.

Not investment advice. Verify all figures with primary sources before acting.