South Korean stocks KOSPI, KOSDAQ plunge, trigger circuit breakers for second day

South Korea's stock markets plunged on July 29, with both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices triggering circuit breakers for the second consecutive trading day. The widespread sell-off reflects significant investor concern and market volatility.

The Korea Exchange announced a 20-minute trading halt on the KOSPI market around 12:32 PM after the index fell more than 8% from its previous day's closing price, a condition that triggers the circuit breaker if sustained for one minute. Earlier in the morning, a sell-side call interruption, known as a sidecar, was also activated. The KOSDAQ market experienced similar interruptions, including a sell-side call interruption and a circuit breaker, for the second day in a row.

After opening higher, the KOSPI reversed course sharply, falling significantly. By 1 PM, the index was down 8.17% to 5531.56. The decline impacted major blue-chip stocks, with Samsung Electronics experiencing a sharp drop after initially showing gains. SK Hynix also saw its stock price plummet, falling over 12% despite announcing record-high second-quarter operating profits of 60.5 trillion won. However, these profits reportedly fell short of market expectations, contributing to the negative sentiment.

The KOSDAQ index also followed a similar pattern, reversing an early upward trend to fall sharply. At the same time, the KOSDAQ was down 8.64% to 644.79. The simultaneous and severe declines across both major South Korean stock markets underscore a period of significant financial uncertainty.