South Korean shares plunged on Friday (November 6) as Democrats' win in the US midterm elections sparked anxiety over the impact on the global AI investment boom, with a selloff in AI stocks prompting policy measures to ease market volatility.

The benchmark KOSPI index ended down 324.11 points, or 6.02%, at 5,059.69, its lowest close since March 31, after dropping 5.3% in the previous session.

Earlier in the day, the index fell as much as 8.8% to below the 5,000-mark for the first time since February, triggering a 20-minute circuit breaker that temporarily halted trading.

In Japan, tech-heavy Nikkei ended Friday down 6% at 57,434.77.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index was down 1.3% but registered a 5.1% weekly gain, its best since March 2025. The Hang Seng Tech Index slid 1.8% on Friday, but posted its best weekly gain since February 2025, advancing 8.6%.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (NOVEMBER 6, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. ENTRANCE OF DEALING ROOM OF HANA BANK, SCREEN SHOWING STOCK PRICES

2. SCREEN SHOWING KOREA COMPOSITE STOCK PRICE INDEX (KOSPI)

3. SCREEN SHOWING STOCK PRICES

4. DEALING ROOM AT HANA BANK

5. SCREEN SHOWING KOREA SECURITIES DEALERS AUTOMATED QUOTATION (KOSDAQ), KOSPI, AND STOCK PRICES OF SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS AND SK HYNIX

6. SCREEN SHOWING KOSPI

7. VARIOUS OF DEALERS WORKING

8. DEALERS WORKING, SCREEN SHOWING STOCK PRICES, KOSPI AND KOSDAQ

9. DEALER LOOKING AT MONITOR, STOCK CHARTS ON MONITOR

10. SCREEN SHOWING USD/KRW EXCHANGE RATE, KOSPI AND KOSDAQ / DEALING ROOM

TOKYO, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 6, 2026) (NIPPON TV / JAPAN - No use Japan. Cannot re-use after 30 days from transmission without permission from Nippon TV) (MUTE)

11. NIKKEI ON SCREEN

TOKYO, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 5, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

12. JPX TOKYO STOCK EXCHANGE SIGN

TOKYO, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 6, 2026) (NIPPON TV / JAPAN - No use Japan. Cannot re-use after 30 days from transmission without permission from Nippon TV) (MUTE)

13. NIKKEI ON SCREEN, SHOWING CLOSING INDEX

TOKYO, JAPAN (ARCHIVE - MAY 14, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

14. EXTERIOR OF JPX

15. SIGN OF JPX

HONG KONG, CHINA (NOVEMBER 6, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

16. VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF HONG KONG EXCHANGE SQUARE

17. MOVING STOCK TICKER SHOWING STOCK PRICES

18. VARIOUS OF DIGITAL SCREEN SHOWING PRICES OF HANG SENG INDEX, HANG SENG CHINA ENTERPRISES INDEX, HANG SENG TECH INDEX, MSCI CHINA A 50 CONNECT INDEX AT MARKET CLOSE

19. PERSON USING PHONE, MOVING STOCK TICKER BEHIND PERSON

20. MOVING STOCK TICKER SHOWING STOCK PRICES