KOSPI in 'Black Friday' rout, threatens 8,000 level... '1,000-point KOSDAQ' collapses [Morning Market Report]

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[Financial News] South Korean stocks are being hit hard by negative developments tied to Broadcom Inc.
As of 10:22 a.m. on the 5th, KOSPI was trading at 8,063.09, down 576.32 points, or 6.67%, from the previous session. At one point during the session, it fell as low as 8,038.10, coming under threat of the 8,000 level.
Right after the market opened, KOSPI plunged and triggered a program-trading sell-side circuit breaker. A sidecar suspends program-trading quotes for five minutes if KOSPI 200 Index futures rise or fall by more than 5% and the move lasts for one minute.
The weaker-than-expected earnings from U.S. semiconductor company Broadcom Inc. appear to have dampened investor sentiment, especially in the chip sector.
Foreign investors and institutions both turned to selling. Foreign investors posted net sales of 1.6297 trillion won, while institutions recorded net sales of 461.3 billion won. Retail investors bought a net 1.9715 trillion won.
Large-cap stocks, including semiconductor names, are falling across the board. In particular, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (-6.97%), SK hynix (-8.92%), SK Square (-9.11%), Hyundai Motor Company (-6.86%), Samsung Life Insurance (-8.90%), Samsung C&T Corporation (-17.76%), and Hyundai Mobis (-10.83%) all plunged.
Most sectors are down, with the exception of food, beverages and tobacco. Distribution, electricity and electronics, machinery and equipment, manufacturing, IT services, insurance, construction, and medical and precision instruments all posted steep declines.
Han Ji-young, a researcher at KIWOOM Securities Co., Ltd., said, "The domestic market is likely to open lower due to weakness in U.S. semiconductor stocks and pressure from the won-dollar exchange rate, then gradually recover intraday losses as rotation shifts from semiconductors to non-semiconductor stocks."
She added, "Even yesterday, KOSPI plunged intraday, then widened volatility before narrowing losses toward the close." She noted that "the recent correction in the stock market is not driven by fundamentals such as earnings, but rather reflects a pause after the rapid pace of index gains."
At the same time, KOSDAQ was trading at 996.08, down 53.65 points, or 5.11%, from the previous session. It was the first time in about three months that KOSDAQ had fallen below the 1,000 level intraday, since March 4.
jisseo@fnnews.com Seo Min-ji Reporter