On the 24th, the domestic stock market plunged. As tensions between the United States and Iran escalated, international oil prices and U.S. Government Bonds yields jumped, triggering a large outflow from global risk asset. Following the U.S. market overnight, Asian markets also fell across the board, and Korea's decline was particularly steep.
The KOSPI closed at 6,690.62, down 406.27 points (5.72%) from the previous session. The KOSPI started trading above the 7,000 level, but its intraday losses deepened. The KOSDAQ also finished at 748.22, down 42.06 points (5.32%).
As the indexes fell sharply, "sell sidecar" mechanisms were triggered one after another during trading on the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets. With futures on the KOSPI200 and KOSDAQ150, which use those indexes as the underlying asset, falling more than 5% for one minute, program sell quotes were temporarily halted.
Foreign investors and institutions dumped shares en masse on the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets. In the main board, foreigners were net sellers of 4.2 trillion won (Korea Exchange (KRX) and NEXTRADE (NXT) combined), and institutions also showed more than 2.2 trillion won in net selling. Only individuals were net buyers of more than 6.3 trillion won.
The large-scale selloff by "big hands" such as foreign investors and institutions came as international oil prices and U.S. Government Bonds yields surged, sharply reducing preference for risk asset.
Geopolitical tensions rose as U.S.-Iran frictions reignited. After a tanker was attacked in the Red Sea waters southwest of Saudi Arabia the previous day, the United States immediately hinted at the possibility of military strikes on Iran.
With tensions flaring again in the Middle East, international oil prices spiked. Brent crude topped $100 a barrel, and WTI also broke above $90.
U.S. Government Bonds yields also climbed. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose above 4.7%, the highest in a year and six months since Jan. 2025. The surge in international oil prices raised expectations that inflation will accelerate, prompting the Federal Reserve to tighten currency policy.
Global tech stocks also fell across the board. After earnings, Alphabet and Tesla dropped sharply, which was a headwind for Korea's semiconductor stocks. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix each fell more than 7% to 8%.
Even as the market suffered a "black Friday" on the index plunge, some stocks soared. Samsung Biologics(207940), which released better-than-expected results the previous day, jumped more than 10%, and defense names such as Hanwha Aerospace also gained.
On the KOSDAQ market, among the top-cap names, HLB(028300) was the only one to finish higher. Semiconductor equipment and materials names such as Jusung Engineering and Wonik IPS fell sharply, and Rainbow Robotics(277810) plunged more than 17%.