KOSPI Plunges Over 8% at Open, Circuit Breaker Triggered

South Korea's stock market plunged dramatically on June 8, with the KOSPI index plummeting over 8% shortly after the market opened, falling below the 8,000-point mark. This significant decline triggered the ninth circuit breaker in the index's history.

The KOSPI was trading down 8.8% at 7442.73 points as of 9:03 AM, prompting the circuit breaker. Simultaneously, the KOSDAQ market saw a drop of over 5%, leading to the activation of a sell-side circuit breaker, which halts sell orders for five minutes. Major tech stocks were hit hard, with Samsung Electronics down 9.27% and SK Hynix down 8.02%. LG Electronics, which had recently surged on news of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's visit, also fell sharply by 12.71%.

The market's sharp downturn is largely attributed to the ripple effects of a semiconductor shock originating from the United States over the weekend. This was compounded by concerns over potential interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which led to a 4.18% drop in the Nasdaq index early on June 6.

Adding to the financial instability, the Korean won weakened significantly against the U.S. dollar. The won-dollar exchange rate opened at 1555.2 won per dollar, an increase of 16.1 won from the previous trading day. This marks the highest opening rate since March 6, 2009, during the global financial crisis, when the rate was 1590.0 won per dollar.