Investors dump Seoul stocks as oil prices surge, won weakens

A stock ticker at Hana Bank headquarters in central Seoul shows the benchmark KOSPI closing at 5,251.87 points, Monday, while the price of West Texas Intermediate exceeds $100 per barrel. Yonhap

Seoul stocks fell Monday amid prolonged market volatility, as investors dumped blue‑chip shares over surging crude oil prices, which climbed past $100 a barrel amid the U.S. and Israel's escalating conflict with Iran.

Unstable oil prices rattled the foreign exchange market, pushing the Korean currency to close at 1,495.5 won per dollar in onshore trading, its lowest in nearly 17 years.

The benchmark KOSPI lost 5.96 percent, closing at 5,251.87 points Monday, while the secondary bourse Kosdaq fell 4.54 percent to finish at 1,102.28 points, in another up‑and‑down session after the U.S. and Israel began their military strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.

After trading resumed following last week’s three-day weekend, both indexes fell on Tuesday and Wednesday — KOSPI down 7.24 percent and 12.06 percent respectively, and Kosdaq down 4.62 percent and 14 percent — before rebounding on Thursday and Friday, with KOSPI gaining 9.63 percent and 0.02 percent and Kosdaq rising 14.1 percent and 3.42 percent.

The KOSPI opened on Monday down 5.72 percent at 5,265.37 points, and at one point during the session fell to 5,096.16 points, a drop of 8.75 percent.

These steep declines triggered a sidecar trading curb, and subsequently a next-level circuit breaker before the market resumed.

The sidecar is activated when the KOSPI 200 Futures — a basket of the top 200 stocks — falls more than 5 percent from the previous day’s close, while the circuit breaker is triggered when the entire KOSPI drops more than 8 percent from the previous day’s close.

The Kosdaq also opened lower, down 5.04 percent at 1,096.28 points, Monday, triggering a sidecar as the Kosdaq 150 futures index — a basket of the top 150 stocks — fell more than 5 percent compared with Friday’s closing level.

Monday’s losses came after Dubai crude prices on Friday reached $100.42 per barrel, breaking the $100 mark after starting the year around $60 per barrel.

On the KOSPI, foreign and institutional investors led net sales, offloading 3.1 trillion won ($2.13 billion) and 1.53 trillion won, respectively, while retail investors bought a net 4.62 trillion won.

Major stocks on the KOSPI posted losses, including Samsung Electronics which fell 7.81 percent to 173,500 won; SK hynix which dropped 9.52 percent to 836,000 won; and Hyundai Motor which slid 8.32 percent to 507,000 won.

The situation was similar on the Kosdaq, with top-listed EcoPro falling 3.65 percent and another popular stock, Alteogen, retreating 1.74 percent.

In the foreign exchange market, the Korean currency opened at 1,493 won per dollar in onshore trading, weakening by 16.6 won from the previous session.

The pace of depreciation accelerated, with the exchange rate hitting 1,494.55 won intraday and closing at 1,495.5 won.

The closing rate marked the weakest level since March 12, 2009, when it reached 1,496.5 won during the global financial crisis.

“The war in Iran could quickly weaken key factors supporting expectations for economic and market growth,” said Moon Da‑woon, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities.

“If the Iran conflict continues longer, it could hurt not just market sentiment but also the real economy."