Chip Stock Selloff Spreads to Asia, Nikkei 225 Opens Nearly 1% Lower, South Korea's KOSPI Plunges 6% with Program Selling Halted for 5 Minutes

Overnight declines in US semiconductor stocks continued to spread to Asian markets, with the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index falling over 1% to 273.09 points, Japan's TOPIX Index widening its drop to 2.1%, and the Nikkei 225 Index down 2%. South Korea's KOSPI Composite Index on Wednesday at one point widened its decline to over 6%, becoming one of the deepest-falling markets in the Asia-Pacific region, prompting the Korea Exchange to activate the SIDECAR mechanism, halting program selling to curb the selloff momentum.