A stock ticker in the dealing room of Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul shows the won-dollar exchange rate, KOSPI and Kosdaq indices, Monday. Yonhap
Korean stocks nosedived more than 8 percent shortly after opening Monday, triggering a 20-minute trading halt, as investors dumped tech and other market heavyweights amid woes over rising inflation, which could prod a rate hike.
After falling nearly 9 percent, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had plunged 683.13 points, or 8.37 percent, to 7,477.46 as of 9:30 a.m.
With the sharp fall, the Korea Exchange activated a circuit breaker for the KOSPI about three minutes after opening, halting trading for 20 minutes, and a sell-side sidecar for the secondary KOSDAQ market about six minutes after opening, suspending trading for five minutes.
The weak start came as major U.S. indexes suffered sharp losses last week, fueled by semiconductor shares' biggest daily percentage drop since March 2020 and the hotter-than-expected U.S. jobs report for May, which fueled fears of a hawkish policy pivot by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
