[Anchor]

The shock from the sharp plunge in U.S. tech stocks has spilled over into the domestic stock market, causing the KOSPI to drop sharply from early trading. With the intraday decline exceeding 5%, a sell sidecar was triggered, while Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are also plunging.

Reporter Lee Seong-hoon has the details.

[Reporter]

The KOSPI showed a sharp downward trend from early trading, dropping by more than 5% intraday.

Investor sentiment froze, centered around semiconductor stocks, following the earnings shock from major U.S. tech companies.

Today (October 30), the KOSPI opened nearly 3% lower before expanding its losses.

At one point during the session, it plunged to the 5,599 level, with the decline reaching 5.7%. Around 10:05 AM, a sell sidecar was triggered, temporarily suspending the execution of program sell orders.

This is the first time a sell sidecar has been triggered in the KOSPI market in 11 trading days since the 15th.

Foreigners and institutional investors drove the decline by net selling over 700 billion won and 200 billion won, respectively, while individual investors net bought over 900 billion won.

Large-cap semiconductor stocks experienced particularly steep declines.

Samsung Electronics fell over 6% intraday, SK hynix dropped over 8%, and major tech stocks such as SK Square and Samsung Electro-Mechanics also saw sharp declines.

The KOSDAQ also fell more than 4%, spreading the downward trend.

In the KOSDAQ market, foreigners and institutions engaged in joint net selling, whereas individuals net bought over 150 billion won.

However, certain stocks such as Samsung Biologics and LG Energy Solution showed an upward trend, resulting in a differentiated performance across individual stocks.

[Video Editing: Kim Jin-won]