South Korean stock market opens sharply lower, triggering circuit breakers

As global semiconductor stocks enter an adjustment phase, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plunged more than 8% at the opening on the 8th, triggering the market circuit breaker mechanism.

The Korea Exchange issued an announcement on the same day, stating that trading on the KOSPI was suspended for 20 minutes starting at 9:03:42 local time on the 8th. Affected by this, all stock trading in the South Korean securities market was temporarily halted, and trading in related futures and options markets was also suspended simultaneously.

When the circuit breaker mechanism was activated, the KOSPI stood at 7,474.74 points, down 685.85 points or 8.40% from the previous trading day.

Meanwhile, the KOSDAQ, known as the "Korean version of NASDAQ," also tumbled sharply after the opening on the same day, triggering the "temporary trading halt" mechanism.

Source: People's Daily Online