KOSPI Falls Below 8,000, Samsung Electronics Drops Below 300,000 Won as Panic Hits the Market [FN Morning Market Report]

[Financial News] As of 10:09 a.m. on the 2nd, the KOSPI was trading at 7,887.04, down 416.37 points, or 5.01%, from the previous trading day. At one point during the session, the index fell as much as 579.84 points, or 6.98%, to 7,723.57. According to the Korea Exchange, a sell-side circuit breaker was triggered at 9:07:03 a.m. after a sharp drop in KOSPI 200 Index Futures, suspending program sell orders for five minutes.
Foreign investors led the early decline on the Korea Exchange Main Board, selling 320.29 billion won worth of shares. By contrast, individual and institutional investors were buying 267.45 billion won and 43.66 billion won worth of shares, respectively.
Samsung Electronics was trading at 295,000 won, down 6.20% from the previous day, falling below the 300,000-won mark. SK hynix was trading at 2,351,000 won, down 8.16%.
The KOSDAQ Index was trading at 890.08, down 39.27 points, or 4.23%, from the previous day, and briefly fell below the 900 level during the session.

dschoi@fnnews.com Choi Doo-sun Reporter