KOSPI holds the 5,200 level despite circuit breaker...KOSDAQ closes at 1,100 [FN Closing Market]

[The Financial News] The KOSPI plunged to the 5,096 level, triggering a circuit breaker, but eventually finished trading above the 5,200 level. The KOSDAQ also pared earlier losses and closed around the 1,100 level.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 9th, the KOSPI ended the session at 5,251.87, down 333.00 points (5.96%) from the previous day.
The KOSPI opened at 5,265.37, down 319.50 points (5.72%) from the previous close, and at one point during the session fell to as low as 5,096.16. This decline triggered a circuit breaker at around 10:31 a.m., but the index later recovered part of its losses before the close.
A circuit breaker is a measure that temporarily halts trading in all stocks listed on the KOSPI Market for 20 minutes when the KOSPI falls more than 8% from the previous closing level and that drop continues for at least one minute.
In the KOSPI Market, individual investors were net buyers alone, purchasing a net 4.6206 trillion won. In contrast, foreign investors and institutions were net sellers of 3.1789 trillion won and 1.5351 trillion won, respectively.
Most large-cap stocks by market capitalization ended lower. Samsung Electronics fell 7.81%, SK hynix dropped 9.42%, Hyundai Motor declined 8.50%, LG Energy Solution lost 5.03%, and Hanwha Aerospace slid 3.71%. In contrast, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries gained 3.07%.
Most sectors were also weak. The steepest declines came in electrical and electronics (down 7.78%), medical and precision instruments (down 7.73%), electricity and gas (down 6.82%), and manufacturing (down 6.63%).
Volatility in the domestic stock market has increased as international oil prices have surged amid escalating military tensions in the Middle East. The Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global crude shipments, is currently blocked, and on the 8th (local time) the Islamic Republic of Iran selected Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei, as the next supreme leader, raising concerns that the situation could drag on.
However, bargain hunting has emerged, helping to trim some of the losses. Jungeun Lim, an analyst at KB Securities, said, “Geopolitical risks between the United States of America (US) and the Islamic Republic of Iran have driven a sharp sell-off in the domestic stock market, but some of the losses were recovered in the afternoon.” Lim added, “This week, volatility is likely to remain high as the market digests the direction of international oil prices, US economic indicators, and earnings from Artificial Intelligence (AI) companies such as Oracle and Adobe.”
The KOSDAQ closed at 1,102.28, down 52.39 points (4.54%) from the previous session. It opened the day at 1,096.48, a drop of 58.19 points (5.04%) from the prior close.
As the KOSDAQ’s intraday losses deepened, a five-minute suspension of program sell orders (a sell-side sidecar) was triggered at around 10:31 a.m.
On the KOSDAQ, individual investors and institutions bought a net 516.9 billion won and 49.5 billion won, respectively, while foreign investors sold a net 544.1 billion won.

yimsh0214@fnnews.com Im Sang-hyuk Reporter