On the 21st, the KOSPI started down more than 1% after New York stocks tumbled overnight on news of a "Greenland tariff."
As of 9:10 a.m., the KOSPI was down 36.12 points, or 0.74%, from the previous session at 4,849.63. The KOSPI opened 1.57% lower than the previous session at 4,808.94.
In the main board, only individual investors were net sellers, unloading 400.8 billion won. Foreign investors and institutions bought 284.5 billion won and 123.6 billion won, respectively.
Large-cap stocks by market cap were mixed. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Doosan Enerbility fell more than 3%, and LG Energy Solution was down more than 2%. Hanwha Aerospace (-1.45%), Samsung Biologics (-1.41%), and Kia (-0.55%) were also lower.
By contrast, Korea's major semiconductor names SK hynix and Samsung Electronics were up 1.08% and 0.48%, respectively.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ was down 17.22 points, or 1.76%, from the previous session at 959.15. The KOSDAQ started 1.88% lower than the previous session at 958.05. On the KOSDAQ, only individual investors were selling, offloading 30.3 billion won. Foreign investors and institutions were net buyers of 24.4 billion won and 20.7 billion won, respectively.
Most top KOSDAQ market-cap stocks were weak. Alteogen fell nearly 5%, and LigaChem Biosciences (-3.30%), ABL Bio (-2.74%), Sam Chun Dang Pharm (-2.55%), HLB (-2.11%), Rainbow Robotics (-2.10%), Kolon TissueGene (-1.75%), Peptron (-1.63%), and EcoPro BM (-1.56%) were also lower.
In the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won-dollar rate opened at 1,480.4 won per $1, up 2.3 won from the previous session.
On the 20th (local time) in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 1.76% at 48,488.59. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 closed down 2.06% at 6,796.86, and the Nasdaq fell 2.39% to 22,964.32.
Concerns spread that U.S. President Donald Trump's threat of a "Greenland tariff" aimed at Europe could trigger a "sell America" (selling of U.S. assets). Trump said he would impose a tariff on eight European countries that deployed troops to Greenland. A 10% tariff takes effect on the 1st of next month, rising to 25% on June 1.
In response, the European Union (EU) also announced it would impose a €93 billion tariff on the United States and is reviewing triggering the anti-coercion instrument (ACI). The ACI is activated when a non-EU third country exerts economic pressure on the EU or a specific member state.
Trump's move to pressure French President Emmanuel Macron to join a Gaza peace committee by saying he would impose a 200% tariff on French wine and champagne also increased market volatility.
As a result, major big tech stocks fell, including Nvidia (-4.38%), Tesla (-4.17%), Apple (-3.44%), Amazon (-3.40%), and Alphabet (-2.43%).