The South Korean stock market is experiencing a downturn due to a sharp decline in U.S. semiconductor stocks. Following the trend in the securities market, the KOSDAQ has also triggered a sell-side circuit breaker, indicating increased volatility. Early in the session, the KOSPI index fell to the 7700 range and the KOSDAQ to the 870 range, but both indices briefly recovered to the 8100 and 900 levels before resuming their downward trajectory.
According to the Korea Exchange, as of 2:25 PM, the KOSPI was trading at 7891.27, down 412.14 points (4.96%) from the previous trading day. The index opened 370.31 points (4.46%) lower at 7933.10 and dipped to 7723.57 during the session.
In terms of investor activity, individuals purchased a net 3.4185 trillion won, engaging in bargain hunting, while foreign and institutional investors sold a net 4.7567 trillion won and 1.2155 trillion won, respectively.
Among the top market capitalization stocks, semiconductor shares showed significant weakness. Samsung Electronics fell 7.07%, SK Hynix dropped 9.14%, SK Square declined 9.56%, Samsung Electro-Mechanics decreased 9.48%, Samsung Electronics preferred shares were down 5.82%, Samsung C&T fell 4.49%, Samsung Life Insurance dropped 3.23%, and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries decreased by 2.11%. In contrast, LG Energy Solution rose 3.45%, Samsung Biologics increased by 2.08%, and Hyundai Motor gained 0.92%.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ index recorded a decline of 48.25 points (5.19%) to 881.10. The index opened down 24.82 points (2.67%) at 904.53 and fell to 873.98 during the session, briefly dropping below the 880 level.
A sell-side circuit breaker was activated on the KOSDAQ at 12:47 PM. The KOSDAQ 150 futures for the most recent month fell 6.05%, and the KOSDAQ 150 index dropped 5.91%, triggering a one-minute halt in program selling orders for five minutes. This year, the KOSDAQ market has experienced a total of 17 circuit breaker activations (11 for buying and 6 for selling).
On the KOSDAQ, individuals net purchased 564.7 billion won, while foreign and institutional investors sold a net 285.6 billion won and 296.7 billion won, respectively.
Most of the top market capitalization stocks on the KOSDAQ are also in decline. EcoPro BM fell 3.99%, EcoPro dropped 4.73%, Juseong Engineering decreased 2.27%, Rainbow Robotics fell 3.76%, Kolon TissueGene dropped 4.09%, Wonik IPS plummeted 18.60%, HLB fell 4.58%, and Rino Industry decreased 7.47%. Alteogen remained stable in trading.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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