[Anchor]
The Kospi plummeted, briefly sliding down to the 5,000 level. This downturn was driven by concerns that Chinese semiconductors could pose a threat to us. The market is increasingly reacting sensitively even to anticipated news.
Reporter Lee Tae-gwon has the details.
[Reporter]
6,023.66.
With all sectors in the stock market declining, the Kospi returned to levels seen three months ago.
Both the Kospi and Kosdaq plunged right after the market opened, triggering sell sidecars in succession.
Circuit breakers, which suspend trading for 20 minutes in both markets, were simultaneously triggered for the third time this year. Ultimately, the markets closed down 10.8% and 7.7% at 6,023 and 705, respectively.
In particular, the Kospi briefly dropped to 5,992 during the session, breaking below the 6,000 mark. It plummeted by 732 points, marking the second-largest drop in history.
In terms of percentage decline, it was the largest drop since March 4, immediately following the outbreak of the war in Iran.
A total of 878 stocks declined, while only 36 advanced.
The Kospi has fallen by more than 28% this month alone, and is down over 35% compared to the intraday record high of 9,385 recorded last month.
Semiconductor heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix plunged 13.4% and 14.6%, respectively, finishing at 220,000 won and 1.55 million won. All top five companies by market capitalization suffered double-digit drops.
Foreign investors led the index decline by net selling nearly 5 trillion won, the largest amount in a month.
Following the news of the domestic market listing of Chinese DRAM company ChangXin Memory Technologies the day before yesterday (the 27th), concerns spread that global memory competition could intensify due to the self-production of semiconductor equipment.
[Interview / Lee Hyo-seop, Head of Financial Industries Division, Korea Capital Market Institute: If they use products from Chinese memory companies, the market shares of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix could relatively decrease, and concerns over increased supply for semiconductor companies seem to have been rapidly reflected in the market.]
The Kospi's return rate, which was the highest in the world at 101% this year, dropped to 42%.
Market capitalization also shrank by over 2 trillion won from its peak to 4,933 trillion won, causing its global stock market ranking to slip from 7th to 9th.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Video Reported by Lee Moo-jin, Lee Byung-joo | Video Edited by Kim Ho-jin | Design by Kim Ye-ji)
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