Reeling from 'War and Oil Price Shock'... KOSPI Closes Down 5.96%

Amid the spread of Middle East-originated geopolitical risks, the Korean stock market closed with a sharp decline. During the session, both a sell-sidecar and a circuit breaker (20-minute trading halt) were triggered consecutively on the KOSPI, while a sell-sidecar was also activated on the KOSDAQ, amplifying market volatility.

On March 9, the KOSPI index closed at 5,251.87, down 333.00 points (5.96%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 5,265.37, down 319.5 points (5.72%), and the decline continued to deepen throughout the session. Foreign investors sold a net 3.2049 trillion won, while institutions offloaded 1.5382 trillion won. In contrast, individual investors bought a net 4.6250 trillion won.

The Korea Exchange triggered a sell-sidecar on the KOSPI market at 9:06 a.m. that day. A sell-sidecar is activated when the KOSPI 200 futures index falls by 5% or more and stays at that level for a minute. Later, as the decline widened to over 8%, a KOSPI circuit breaker was triggered at around 10:31 a.m., suspending stock trading for 20 minutes.

On the 9th, employees are monitoring the stock market and exchange rates in the dealing room at the Seoul Hana Bank head office. Photo by Jo Yong-jun

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By industry, electrical and electronics (-9.91%), medical precision instruments (-8.97%), securities (-8.84%), manufacturing (-8.52%), and electricity and gas (-8.38%) saw steep declines. Transportation and storage (-6.30%), finance (-6.55%), transportation equipment and parts (-6.09%), insurance (-6.04%), chemicals (-5.83%), and pharmaceuticals (-5.73%) were also weak.

Most of the top market capitalization stocks fell. SK hynix (-9.52%), Hyundai Motor (-8.32%), Kia (-8.14%), SK Square (-7.96%), Hyundai Mobis (-7.88%), and Samsung Electronics (-7.81%) posted significant losses. LG Energy Solution (-4.77%), Samsung C&T (-4.59%), Samsung Life Insurance (-4.52%), Mirae Asset Securities (-4.32%), and Celltrion (-4.00%) were also weak. In contrast, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries closed up alone, rising 3.97%.

The KOSDAQ index finished at 1,102.28, down 52.39 points (4.54%) from the previous trading day. Foreign investors led the decline by selling 545.2 billion won. Institutions bought a net 47.9 billion won, while individual investors purchased a net 518.6 billion won. On the KOSDAQ market, a sell-sidecar was also triggered at 10:31 a.m. due to volatility in KOSDAQ 150 futures and spot trading.

Among top KOSDAQ market capitalization stocks, Pearl Abyss (12.41%), Peptron (8.37%), and Medy-Tox (1.52%) showed strength, but Rainbow Robotics (-11.18%), Wonik IPS (-9.80%), ISC (-9.46%), EO Technics (-8.83%), Kolon TissueGene (-8.32%), and Leeno Industrial (-6.93%) posted large declines. LIG ChemBio (-4.47%), Voronoi (-4.55%), AIMED Bio (-3.98%), and Ecopro (-3.65%) also closed lower.

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