"After Hitting 7,800, It Plunged to 7,200"...Investor Sentiment Shattered by Dual Sidecar Triggers [Fn Closing Market]

[Financial News] The KOSPI briefly turned higher during the session before plunging again, creating a roller-coaster trading day. As a result, sell sidecars were triggered simultaneously in both the Korea Exchange Main Board and KOSDAQ markets. Following the circuit breaker activated the previous day, market stabilization measures were deployed for a second straight day, underscoring the extreme volatility in South Korean stocks.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 8th, the KOSPI closed at 7,246.79, down 5.35% from the previous trading day. The index opened 2.66% lower than the day before, but at one point during the session it rose as much as 1.77% to 7,791.66. In the afternoon, however, selling pressure intensified sharply and erased all of those gains.
The KOSDAQ fell even more sharply. The KOSDAQ Index closed down 5.56% at 785.00, slipping back into the 700-point range for the first time in about 10 months since September last year.
At 1:31:58 p.m., a sell sidecar was triggered in the Korea Exchange Main Board, temporarily suspending the validity of program sell orders. Just two minutes later, at 1:33:58 p.m., a sell sidecar was also triggered in the KOSDAQ market.
Even the largest stocks by market capitalization were not spared. Samsung Electronics closed at 277,500 won, down 6.25%, while SK hynix ended the session at 2,076,000 won, down 5.68%.
Market watchers said the back-to-back activation of stabilization measures clearly reflected weakening investor sentiment. On the previous day, a sell sidecar and a level-1 circuit breaker were triggered one after another on the KOSPI. On this day, sell sidecars were activated simultaneously in both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets, deepening fear in the market.
Kang Jin-hyuk, a senior researcher at Shinhan Investment & Securities, said, "The market is going through a process of finding balance as fundamentals, liquidity and investor sentiment play a seesaw game." He added, "Psychological support seemed to emerge around the 7,400 level, but once that was broken, disappointment selling flooded in all at once."

dschoi@fnnews.com Choi Du-seon Reporter