Seoul: South Korean stocks opened more than 1 percent lower Monday, tracking Wall Street's slide sparked by the semiconductor shock and rate hike fears, with big-cap shares posting sharp declines. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 112.5 points, or 1.38 percent, to 8,048.09 at the opening bell.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the weak start came as major U.S. indexes suffered significant losses last week. This was fueled by semiconductor shares experiencing their biggest daily percentage drop since March 2020 and a hotter-than-expected U.S. jobs report for May, which heightened fears of a hawkish policy pivot by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.35 percent lower on Friday, while the S and P 500 dipped 2.64 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 4.18 percent. Major U.S. chip shares sharply lost ground, with Nvidia slumping 6.2 percent, Broadcom contracting 7.92 percent, and Micron plummeting 13.25 percent.