South Korean stocks plummet, triggering trading halt

South Korea's stock market plunged on July 28, 2026, leading to the activation of a sell-side cara, a temporary suspension of program trading orders. The KOSPI index opened sharply down, falling 355.48 points, or 5.26%, to 6400.27. The trading halt was triggered around 9:06 AM local time when the KOSPI200 futures index dropped over 5% and sustained the decline for a minute.

By 9:19 AM, the KOSPI had fallen further to 6290.24, a 6.89% decrease from the previous trading day. The market's rapid descent saw it break below the 6400 and 6300 levels shortly after opening. This significant downturn was primarily driven by sell-offs from foreign and institutional investors, who offloaded 632.1 billion won and 185.7 billion won worth of stocks, respectively.

Individual investors attempted to cushion the fall, buying 809.3 billion won in stocks. However, the selling pressure overwhelmed their efforts. Major companies across various sectors also experienced steep declines. Samsung Electronics saw its stock price drop by 9.06% to 231,000 won, while SK Hynix plummeted by 10.57% to 1,624,000 won in early trading, reflecting broad investor concerns impacting key industries.