The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) on the 29th saw its intraday decline exceed 8%, triggering the market's circuit breaker mechanism. After trading resumed, the decline continued to widen, with KOSPI once dropping by more than 12%.
This marks the ninth time this year that the South Korean stock market has triggered the circuit breaker mechanism, and it is the first time on record that the KOSPI has triggered circuit breakers on two consecutive trading days.
The KOSPI opened higher by 1.09% (65.45 points), at 6,089.11 points, and at one point rose to 6,228.52 points during the session. Afterwards, the gains narrowed and turned into losses, with the index once touching 5,262.77 points, down 12.63%. It eventually closed at 5,663.24 points, down 5.98% (360.42 points) from the previous trading day.
In addition, the KOSDAQ index, which represents South Korea's growth technology sector and is dubbed the 'Korean NASDAQ', also triggered the circuit breaker mechanism due to a sharp decline that day. Trading on both major markets was suspended for 20 minutes.
According to South Korean media reports, the recent sharp volatility in the South Korean stock market is mainly related to heavy pressure on semiconductor stocks. Although a temporary drop in international oil prices helped improve market sentiment, a renewed escalation of the Middle East situation weakened risk appetite, and the sell-off in tech stocks further intensified.