Seoul: South Korea's bourse operator on Monday activated a circuit breaker for the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) as the index nosedived by more than 8 percent due to a slump in tech heavyweights. Trading of KOSPI-listed stocks was being halted for 20 minutes.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Korea Exchange issued the measure shortly after the stock market opening, after the KOSPI crashed more than 8 percent. The KOSPI fell sharply as the index tracked Wall Street's sharp losses last week, fueled by semiconductor shares' biggest daily percentage drop since March 2020 and the hotter-than-expected U.S. jobs report for May, which fueled fears of a hawkish policy pivot by the U.S. Federal Reserve.