KOSPI Plummets Over 8%, Falls Below 7,000 Mark; Circuit Breaker Triggered

The KOSPI plummeted by more than 8% today (July 13), falling below the 7,000 mark during intraday trading, which triggered a circuit breaker that temporarily halted all stock trading.

As of 1:35 p.m. today, the KOSPI stood at 6,880.97, down 594.97 points (7.96%).

The index opened at 7,412.03, down 63.91 points (0.85%), and after fluctuating, it turned downward and has been expanding its losses.

This is the first time the KOSPI has fallen below the 7,000 mark in about two months since it first surpassed the level on May 6.

The KOSPI fell as much as 8.22% to 6,861.40 earlier in the day, leading to the activation of a circuit breaker at 1:28 p.m., the seventh time this year, which suspended trading for 20 minutes.

This marks the 13th time in history that a circuit breaker has been triggered, with more than half of these instances occurring this year.

Earlier, at 10:34 a.m., a sidecar for KOSPI sell orders was also triggered.

Currently, foreign investors have expanded their net selling to 2.2483 trillion won, while institutions are also selling off 572.7 billion won worth of shares.

Individual investors are net buying 2.7231 trillion won.

The sharp decline of the two major semiconductor stocks appears to be significantly impacting the index's drop.

Samsung Electronics (-9.21%) has plummeted to the 250,000 won range, and SK Hynix (-13.35%) has also crashed, falling below the 2 million won mark and sliding into the high 1.8 million won range.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ index is also down 36 points (4.30%) from the previous trading session to 801.43, with the 800-point level under threat.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.