KOSPI Plummets 10.8% in a Day, Returning to Level from Three Months Ago

[Anchor]

The South Korean stock market suffered another sharp plunge today (the 28th). The KOSPI dropped by more than 10%, briefly falling below the 6,000 mark. It has plummeted by 30% this month alone, a sharper decline than during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Tonight's 8 O'Clock News will take a detailed look at the background and outlook behind this historic crash.

First, let's go to Reporter Lee Tae-gwon.

[Reporter]

6,023.66.

With stocks falling across all sectors, the KOSPI has retreated to where it was three months ago.

Both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ plummeted right after the market opened, triggering sell-sidecars consecutively.

Circuit breakers, which suspend trading for 20 minutes in both markets, were simultaneously activated for the third time this year, and the indices ultimately closed down 10.8% and 7.7% at 6,023 and 705, respectively.

In particular, the KOSPI briefly slumped to 5,992 during the session, breaking below the 6,000 threshold. It shed 732 points in a single day, marking the second-largest drop in history.

In terms of percentage decline, it was the highest 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 over 28% this month alone, and is down more than 35% compared to its intraday record high of 9,385 set 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, while the top five companies by market capitalization all suffered double-digit drops.

Foreign investors led the index downward, net selling nearly 5 trillion won, the largest amount in a month.

Following news yesterday of the domestic market listing of Chinese DRAM maker ChangXin Memory Technologies, concerns spread that global memory competition could intensify due to domestic production of semiconductor equipment.

[Lee Hyo-seop / Head of Financial Industry Research, Korea Capital Market Institute : If people 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 firms seem to have been quickly reflected in the market.]

The KOSPI's return, which was the highest in the world at 101% earlier this year, has fallen to 42%.

Its market capitalization also shrank to 4.933 quadrillion won, wiping out more than 2 trillion won from its peak, pushing its global stock market ranking down from 7th to 9th.

(Photo & Video Reporting: Lee Moo-jin, Lee Byung-joo | Video Editing: Kim Ho-jin | Design: Kim Ye-ji)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.