KOSPI Plunges 8% in 'Black Monday': Will There Be a Rebound Today?

[Anchor]

The KOSPI has plummeted for three consecutive trading sessions, falling below the 7,500 mark yesterday (June 8). This represents a drop of more than 1,300 points from its all-time high. We will have to wait and see if the rebound in U.S. semiconductor stocks will influence our market today.

Reporter Baegun has the story.

[Reporter]

The KOSPI expanded its losses immediately after the opening bell, plunging more than 8% within just three minutes of the start of regular trading.

A circuit breaker was triggered, halting trading for 20 minutes.

This is the first time a circuit breaker has been triggered in the KOSPI market in three months, since March, shortly after the outbreak of the war in the Middle East.

Although the KOSPI briefly narrowed its losses at one point, it eventually closed at 7,484, down 8.3%.

While individual investors net-bought 1.7 trillion won, institutions and foreign investors net-sold 1.6 trillion won and 350 billion won, respectively, dragging down the index.

The 'Black Monday' in the stock market was triggered by concerns over U.S. monetary tightening and a sharp decline in semiconductor stocks.

Previously, robust U.S. employment figures confirmed the possibility of interest rate hikes. With concerns that rising interest rates would dampen AI investments by major U.S. tech companies, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell by more than 10%.

In the aftermath, Samsung Electronics fell by more than 10%, losing the 300,000 won level, and SK Hynix also dropped by more than 7%, giving up the 2 million won mark.

The KOSDAQ index also saw a circuit breaker triggered, plummeting more than 9% and falling below the 1,000-point mark.

[Kim Dong-won / Head of Research, KB Securities: The index has risen 100% this year. Because of that, the correction is deep and proceeding very steeply. Considering the gains made so far, it can be interpreted as a correction due to overheating.]

As the KOSPI plunged yesterday (June 8), following a 5% drop last Friday, concerns over losses for individual investors who borrowed money to invest aggressively have grown.

With the balance of credit transactions—money borrowed from securities firms for investment—nearing 38 trillion won, a sharp drop in stock prices triggers forced liquidations of held stocks.

The loss rate for single-stock leveraged ETFs, which have recently attracted significant capital, has neared 40% over the past three trading sessions.

[Kim Jae-seung / Analyst, Hyundai Motor Securities: In a situation where the proportion of high-risk investments is increasing, while they can drive strong gains when the market rises, they also cause prices to fall much faster when the market drops.]

Online, posts certifying loss amounts have continued to appear, while conversely, opinions have also been shared about using the sharp decline as a buying opportunity.

(Reported by Kim Nam-sung and Kim Young-hwan | Video edited by Kim Yoon-sung | Graphics by Park Tae-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.