Korea — Kospi −5.5% breaks its 18-month uptrend; SK Hynix and Samsung about −8% on a China memory scare
Korea is the story this morning. The Kospi closed down 5.5% at 6,035, after falling as far as about 5,914 and briefly below 6,000 — enough to trigger the exchange's sell-side curb on computer-driven trading for the first time in about two months. The two memory makers carry it: SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics traded down around 8%, as reported, after China's CXMT flagged progress on a new memory chip.
The first big earnings day of the season: JPMorgan and Wells Fargo earned more than a year ago and still fell short — JPMorgan missed on profit and revenue, Wells Fargo on revenue — and both traded about 2% lower before the open. Goldman Sachs beat widely, $17.01 a share against about $13.02, and Citigroup beat on both lines. Health care did better too: UnitedHealth and Johnson & Johnson beat and raised their 2026 outlooks.