KOSPI Faces 'Black Tuesday' from Middle East Risks... Plunges 7% to the 5,700 Level

The KOSPI suffered a sharp plunge of over 7% due to geopolitical risks stemming from the Middle East.

On March 3, the KOSPI closed at 5,791.91, down 452.22 points (7.24%) from the previous day. Trading volume reached 1.21817 billion shares, with a provisional trading value of 52.5322 trillion won.

KOSPI started the day lower due to the aftermath of the war between the United States and Iran. During the session, buying by individuals and institutions helped reduce the losses. However, in the latter part of the session, institutions turned to net selling, and foreigners also showed strong selling pressure, further dragging the index down.

By investor type, institutions and foreigners posted net sales of 889.3 billion won and 5.1731 trillion won, respectively, while individuals made net purchases of 5.8004 trillion won, helping to defend against further declines in the index. In the futures market, institutions were net buyers of 697.5 billion won, while foreigners and individuals were net sellers of 322.3 billion won and 178.6 billion won, respectively.

Most sectors declined. The electricity and gas sector plunged 11.04%, while electrical and electronics fell 9.85%, machinery and equipment 8.27%, manufacturing 7.99%, securities 7.65%, construction 7.63%, IT services 7.58%, medical precision 6.25%, distribution 5.87%, entertainment and culture 5.87%, pharmaceuticals 5.13%, finance 4.8%, general services 4.75%, and chemicals 4.25%. In contrast, the transportation and storage sector rose 0.33%.

Among large-cap stocks, most also declined. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix dropped 9.88% and 11.5%, respectively. Hyundai Motor fell 11.72%, LG Energy Solution 7.96%, Samsung Biologics 5.46%, SK Square 9.92%, Kia 11.29%, and Doosan Enerbility 8.84%. In contrast, Hanwha Aerospace surged 19.83%.

On this day, 75 stocks rose, 842 stocks fell, and 9 remained unchanged. Nine stocks hit their upper limits.

The KOSDAQ index also ended with a decline of over 4%. On this day, the KOSDAQ closed at 1,137.7, down 55.08 points (4.62%) from the previous day. By investor type, institutions and foreigners were net buyers of 220.3 billion won and 591.5 billion won, respectively, while individuals were net sellers of 758.5 billion won.

Among the top KOSDAQ stocks by market capitalization, more stocks fell than rose. Ecopro declined 11.35%, Alteogen 6.01%, Ecopro BM 9.93%, Samchundang Pharm 8.61%, Rainbow Robotics 2.33%, ABL Bio 4.85%, Kolon TissueGene 1.78%, and Caregen 5.7%. In contrast, Leeno Industrial climbed 4.99%, while HLB gained 4.44% and Regencem Bio 0.31%, all closing higher.

Meanwhile, in the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won/dollar exchange rate is trading at 1,464.6 won, up 24.6 won from the previous day.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.