SEOUL, July 20 (AJP) - Korean stocks closed sharply lower Monday, with the benchmark KOSPI losing more than 4 percent and the KOSDAQ falling more than 5 percent as sell-side sidecars were activated in both markets.
The KOSPI dropped 304.33 points, or 4.46 percent, to close at 6,516.27.
The index opened 2.60 percent lower at 6,643.58. It climbed as high as 6,814.86 during the session before falling to an intraday low of 6,472.80.
The selloff followed a buildup of investor anxiety over the semiconductor sector during the Constitution Day holiday, compounded by escalating conflict in the Middle East. Leveraged exchange-traded funds tracking chip stocks were cited by market observers as amplifying the swings in both directions.
A sell-side sidecar was activated in the main market at 11:21:26 a.m., temporarily suspending program sell orders for five minutes.
Institutional investors sold a net 919.1 billion won worth of KOSPI shares. Foreign investors purchased a net 515.3 billion won, while retail investors bought 349.1 billion won.
Samsung Electronics fell 4.31 percent to 244,000 won, while SK hynix dropped 4.23 percent to 1,764,000 won.
Samsung Life Insurance plunged 8.91 percent and KB Financial Group lost 6.79 percent. Kia fell 6.48 percent, Hyundai Motor dropped 6.12 percent to 399,000 won and LG Energy Solution declined 4.94 percent.
Samsung Biologics fell 3.65 percent, SK Square lost 2.89 percent, Samsung Electronics preferred shares declined 1.63 percent and Samsung Electro-Mechanics edged down 0.16 percent.
Hanmi Semiconductor tumbled 8.5 percent to 222,000 won, while LG Innotek dropped 9.9 percent. Hanwha Ocean fell 4.0 percent to 83,200 won.
Diversified telecommunications services gained 2.1 percent, led by a 2.8 percent rise in One4U and a 2.1 percent gain in KT. Card shares advanced 1.8 percent, with Samsung Card rising 1.8 percent. Diversified consumer services gained 1.5 percent, led by eSang Networks, which also rose 1.5 percent.
The tech-heavy KOSDAQ fell 42.20 points, or 5.33 percent, to close at 749.64.
The index opened 2.35 percent lower at 773.21 and traded between an intraday high of 783.74 and a low of 747.00.
A sell-side sidecar was triggered in the KOSDAQ market at 10:52:54 a.m., about 29 minutes before the measure was activated in the KOSPI market. Program sell orders were suspended for five minutes.
Retail investors purchased a net 190.8 billion won worth of KOSDAQ shares. Foreign investors sold 57.7 billion won, while institutions unloaded 134.8 billion won.
Samchundang Pharm surged 29.82 percent to the daily limit at 239,000 won after receiving a response from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding its Pre-ANDA consultation for a generic oral semaglutide product.
ROKIT Healthcare jumped 27 percent to 61,400 won. Jinyoung rose 29.9 percent to 1,420 won, Zinitix gained 15.0 percent to 1,852 won and GigaLane climbed 15.1 percent to 12,990 won.
Hanil Feed advanced 14.9 percent to 2,770 won, Hantop rose 13.8 percent to 2,765 won and JOLSE gained 9.5 percent to 1,309 won.
Mirae Life Resources surged 29.8 percent and Selim B&G rose 9.7 percent as plastic-alternative and soybean-related shares ranked among the strongest themes.
Semiconductor equipment shares were among the steepest decliners. Wonik IPS plunged 18.19 percent to 115,100 won, PSK dropped 12.59 percent and Jusung Engineering fell 10.64 percent to 167,900 won.
Ecopro lost 8.13 percent and Ecopro BM declined 7.38 percent. Rainbow Robotics fell 5.54 percent, Rino Industrial dropped 4.43 percent, Alteogen declined 2.53 percent and Kolon TissueGene lost 1.45 percent.
The Korean won strengthened slightly against the U.S. dollar, with the exchange rate falling 0.1 won to close at 1,478.4 won per dollar.
Japan's stock market was closed for the Marine Day public holiday.
China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.9 percent to 3,796.3, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 2.0 percent to 25,059.9.
Brent crude rose 2.3 percent to $90.1 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate gained 2.0 percent to $84.1 a barrel.
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