SEOUL, August 5 (AJU PRESS) - Korea's benchmark KOSPI index plummeted more than 5 percent below the 2,600 level on Monday morning, triggering a sidecar curb that temporarily halted program selling for the first time in more than four years.
Market analysts attribute the drop to growing fears of a U.S. economic slowdown, exacerbated by weak manufacturing and employment data released last week.
According to the Korea Exchange, the KOSPI was down 5.08 percent to 2,540.36 as of 11:38 a.m.
The program trading curb was activated at 11:00:20 a.m. due to a sharp decline in the KOSPI 200 futures index. This measure suspends program selling orders for five minutes.
At the time of activation, the KOSPI 200 futures index had fallen 18.65 points, or 5.08 percent, to 348.05.
The sidecar order is activated when prices fall 5 percent or more below their previous close and persist for over a minute.
The last time the sidecar was issued in Seoul's main bourse was on March 23, 2020.
Foreign investors led the selling, offloading 374.8 billion won on the KOSPI and 711.8 billion won in the futures market, as of 9:26 a.m.
Major blue-chip stocks were hit hard, with Samsung Electronics dropping 4.4 percent, SK hynix 2.71 percent and Hyundai Motor 3.48 percent.
The tech-heavy KOSDAQ index also tumbled, falling 29.88 points, or 3.83 percent, to 749.45.
