KOSPI Closes at 8160, Third Largest Single-Day Plunge on Record

SEOUL, June 5 (Yonhap News) – South Korea's stock market recorded a sharp decline on June 5, battered by a steep rise in the exchange rate, falling share prices of major semiconductor companies, and large-scale selling by foreign investors. The KOSPI index finished the day at 8160.59, down 478.82 points (5.54%) from the previous trading day, marking the third-largest fall in its history. The KOSPI index teetered on the brink of breaking the 8000-point level before closing at 8160.59. After opening 3.66% lower at 8323.20, the index briefly dropped to 8038.10, approaching the 8000 mark. However, it partially recovered some losses due to the inflow of bargain hunting after a 'program trading circuit breaker' (sidecar) was triggered early in the session amid the rapid decline. As of the closing bell, the KOSPI's total market capitalization stood at 6,685.56 trillion won, significantly reduced just three trading days after it first surpassed 7,000 trillion won on June 1.

The foreign exchange market also remained unstable, with the won-dollar exchange rate closing at 1539.1 won per dollar, up 9.4 won from the previous day. In terms of supply and demand, simultaneous selling by foreign and institutional investors weighed on the market. Foreign investors net sold 3.5387 trillion won worth of shares, and institutions net sold 943 billion won. Foreign investors extended their selling streak to 20 consecutive trading days. Individual investors stepped in to defend the index, net buying 4.2238 trillion won in shares.

Major semiconductor stocks such as Samsung Electronics (-6.40%) and SK Hynix (-9.92%) saw significant drops on the domestic stock market. Despite the visit of NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang to Korea, profit-taking emerged, causing related stocks like LG Electronics (-7.62%) and NAVER (-4.49%), which were expected to benefit from NVIDIA collaborations, to weaken. In contrast, bank stocks like KB Financial (4.51%) and Shinhan Financial Group (7.39%) rose, acting as defensive stocks. Shinhan Investment Corp. climbed 3.29% following an announcement to incinerate 1 trillion won worth of its own shares, while Samsung Electro-Mechanics (2.39%) and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (2.00%) also closed higher.

The KOSDAQ market closed at 1002.44, down 47.29 points (4.50%). Although the 1000-point level was breached intraday, it managed to stay above 1000 by the closing bell. Foreign investors net sold 178.1 billion won on the KOSDAQ market. Large-cap stocks like Ecopro BM (-8.76%) and Ecopro (-8.00%) plunged, with Ecopro BM losing its position as the market's top company by market capitalization to Alutech.

The total trading value on the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets on this day was 48.494 trillion won and 10.657 trillion won, respectively. The alternative trading venue Nextrade recorded a total trading value of 31.092 trillion won across its pre-market and main market sessions.