South Korea's two major stock markets closed lower. Individual and institutional investors were net buyers on the KOSPI, while individual investors bought shares on the KOSDAQ, but their purchases failed to stem the declines. The losses were attributed to a broad sell-off on Wall Street overnight.
The KOSPI closed at 5,730.74 on Oct. 30, down 206.92 points, or 3.48 percent, from the previous trading day. The index opened at 5,760.35, down 177.31 points, or 2.99 percent, and extended its losses throughout the session. At 10:04:55 a.m., a sell-sidecar was triggered after KOSPI 200 futures fell more than 5 percent, temporarily suspending the effectiveness of program sell orders for five minutes.
The stock market reflected the decline in New York stock markets. Overnight, Google's parent company Alphabet fell by 12.64%. Alphabet's market capitalization evaporated by approximately $500 billion (669 trillion won) in a single day. Earnings released after the close by semiconductor company Intel and Amazon also fell short of expectations. Intel plunged by more than 20% in after-hours trading.
In KOSPI regular trading on this day, retail investors and institutional investors made net purchases of 871.3 billion won and 716.9 billion won worth of shares, respectively. Foreign investors made net sales of 1 trillion 825.4 billion won worth of shares.
By sector on KOSPI, medical and precision instruments fell by more than 7%, and construction fell by more than 6%. Pharmaceuticals rose by more than 4%, while transportation and warehousing, food and tobacco, among others, rose by more than 1%.
Among top market capitalization stocks on KOSPI, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix fell by more than 3% and 7%, respectively. Stocks linked to these companies in terms of equity or business operations also declined: Samsung Electro-Mechanics by more than 8%, SK Square by more than 6%, and Samsung C&T Corporation by more than 3%.
KOSDAQ closed at 724.38, down 28.85 points (3.83%) from the previous day. KOSDAQ opened at 737.76 on this day, down 15.47 points (2.05%), and maintained its weak trend.
On KOSDAQ, retail investors made net purchases of 167.8 billion won worth of shares, while foreign investors and institutional investors made net sales of 30.7 billion won and 136.1 billion won worth of shares, respectively.
By sector on KOSDAQ, non-metals fell by more than 6%, while electrical and electronic products, medical and precision instruments, and machinery and equipment each fell by more than 5%. Manufacturing fell by more than 4%.
Among top market capitalization stocks on KOSDAQ, Lino Industrial fell by more than 9%, Simmtech by more than 8%, and Wonik IPS by more than 7%.
The won/dollar exchange rate closed at 1,334.3 won at 3:30 p.m. on this day, down 2.5 won from the same time the previous day.
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