The KOSPI index opened on the 5th around the 8,300 level, down more than 3% from the previous trading day. With the U.S. New York stock market the day before falling short of expectations after Broadcom's results missed the market's bar by a wide margin, investor sentiment in Korea also appeared to cool.
On the day, the KOSPI index opened at 8,323.20, down 316.21 points (3.66%) from the previous trading day.
As the decline deepened, as of 9:08 a.m., a sell-sidecar was triggered, temporarily halting program-trading sell quotes on the main board. Foreign investors and institutions led the drop by net selling 1 trillion won and 120 billion won, respectively. Individuals were net buying 1 trillion won.
The previous day in New York, shares of AI growth names extended a pullback as overheating concerns in IT, centered on semiconductors, had built up and Broadcom's earnings guidance fell short of market expectations.
The three major New York indexes ended mixed. On the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 874.86 points (1.73%) from the previous session to finish at 51,561.93.
The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 rose 30.63 points (0.41%) to close at 7,584.31. The Nasdaq fell 23.02 points (0.09%) to end at 26,830.96.
The top market-cap stocks on Korea's main board are broadly lower. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix were down more than 6% to 7% from the previous trading day early in the session.
By contrast, financials were strong on news that the penalty surcharge tied to Hong Kong H-index equity-linked securities (ELS) would be reduced. KB Financial, Shinhan Financial Group, and Woori Financial Group were gaining.
On the day, the KOSDAQ market opened at 1,035.22, down 14.51 points (1.38%) from the previous trading day. While foreign investors were net selling more than 100 billion won, individuals and institutions were responding with net purchases of more than 80 billion won and 30 billion won, respectively.