'Black Tuesday' KOSPI Plunges More Than 8%... Circuit Breaker Triggered [Afternoon Market Update]

[Financial News] The KOSPI (Korea Composite Stock Price Index) plunged more than 8% intraday on the 7th, triggering a circuit breaker mechanism that temporarily halted trading. All KOSPI trading was suspended for 20 minutes under the circuit breaker mechanism. It was triggered for the sixth time this year.
According to the Korea Exchange, the KOSPI was trading at 7,404.48 as of 2:20 p.m., down 8.03% from the previous session. The index opened at 7,919.20, down 1.64% from the previous close, and widened its losses shortly after the market opened. Earlier, around 10:23 a.m., the KOSPI 200 Index futures fell more than 5%, triggering a sell-side sidecar, a temporary suspension of program sell orders.
On the Korea Exchange Main Board, foreign investors sold 3.3478 trillion won worth of shares, dragging the index lower. Institutions also posted a net selling position of 220.4 billion won. By contrast, individual investors bought 3.5053 trillion won worth of shares, standing alone in supporting the market's downside.
Most large-cap stocks among the top companies by market capitalization were falling sharply. Samsung Electronics, which released preliminary second-quarter results before the market opened, dropped 9.75%, losing the 300,000-won level and trading at 287,000 won. SK hynix fell 10.58% to 2,095,000 won, putting the 2 million-won level at risk. SK Square (-13.11%), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (-11.82%), and Hyundai Motor Company (-8.07%) also posted steep declines.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ (Korea Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) was trading at 814.98, down 3.84% from the previous session. The index opened at 843.74, down 0.39%, and briefly turned higher early in the session, but later reversed course and weakened in step with the KOSPI's sharp decline.

fair@fnnews.com Han Young-joon Reporter