Korean Stock Market Plunges at Open... KOSPI Triggers Sell-Sidecar Early in Session

Geopolitical Risks from the Middle East Escalate
KOSPI Falls Over 4%, KOSDAQ Also Drops Over 3%
Dollar-Won Exchange Rate Opens at 1,504.9 Won

The Korean stock market plunged at the start of trading on March 23, as investor sentiment was dampened by heightened geopolitical risks stemming from the Middle East (concerns over the expansion of the Iran war).

On the 23rd, employees are working in the dealing room at the Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

As of 9:28 a.m. on this day, the KOSPI was trading at 5,500.45, down 280.7 points (4.86%) from the previous session. The KOSPI opened at 5,580.15, a decrease of 201.05 points (3.48%), and continued to widen its losses. In terms of trading volume, foreign investors recorded net sales of 887.7 billion won, institutions net sold 684.8 billion won, while individual investors net purchased 1.525 trillion won. The Korea Exchange triggered a sell-sidecar early in the session, temporarily halting the effectiveness of program sell orders following a sharp drop in KOSPI200 futures.

Most sectors were in decline. The largest drops were seen in entertainment & culture (-5.49%), electrical & electronics (-4.23%), securities (-4.23%), manufacturing (-3.76%), insurance (-3.63%), finance (-3.60%), telecommunications (-3.20%), transport equipment & parts (-3.17%), pharmaceuticals (-3.15%), machinery & equipment (-2.76%), medical precision instruments (-2.64%), general services (-2.60%), and chemicals (-2.52%). In contrast, non-metallic minerals (2.62%) and construction (1.19%) sectors showed gains.

Most of the top large-cap stocks by market capitalization also weakened. SK Square (-9.05%), HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (-6.98%), Mirae Asset Securities (-6.50%), SK hynix (-5.96%), Hanwha Ocean (-5.73%), Doosan Enerbility (-5.47%), Samsung C&T (-5.38%), Hyundai Mobis (-5.37%), Samsung Electronics (-4.96%), and Celltrion (-4.90%) all traded lower. Samsung Life Insurance (-5.18%), Shinhan Financial Group (-4.70%), KB Financial Group (-4.25%), and Hanwha Aerospace (-4.39%) were also on the decline.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ index was down 42.91 points (3.69%) from the previous session, standing at 1,118.61. The KOSDAQ opened at 1,129.86, down 31.66 points (2.73%), and extended its losses. Foreign investors recorded net sales of 10.3 billion won, institutions net sold 18.2 billion won, while individual investors net purchased 35.5 billion won.

Among the KOSDAQ's top large-cap stocks, Samchundang Pharm (2.98%), Jusung Engineering (2.61%), and Peptron (0.58%) rose. In contrast, Robotis (-8.43%), Rainbow Robotics (-8.35%), ABL Bio (-7.19%), Voronoi (-6.47%), Kolon TissueGene (-5.40%), EcoPro (-5.30%), Caregen (-5.27%), Alteogen (-5.09%), and EcoPro BM (-5.05%) all declined. Wonik IPS (-4.32%), Legochem Biosciences (-4.23%), HLB (-3.87%), EO Technics (-3.14%), and Woori Technology (-2.82%) were also weak.

Recently, global stock markets have been fluctuating rapidly depending on developments in the U.S.-Iran conflict. On March 20 (local time), the New York stock market dropped across the board following reports that U.S. President Donald Trump was considering the deployment of ground troops. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 45,577.47, down 443.96 points (0.96%) from the previous session. The S&P 500 fell 1.51% to 6,506.48, and the Nasdaq dropped 2.01% to 21,647.61.

Meanwhile, on this day, the dollar-won exchange rate started trading at 1,504.9 won, up 4.3 won from the previous session.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.