The Korea Times
Seoul stocks tumbled Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump warned of "extremely hard" strikes on Iran, rattling global markets and fueling risk-off sentiment among foreign investors. Trump's remarks dashed hopes for a de-escalation in the Middle East, sending the Korean won sharply lower. The currency closed at 1,519.7 won per dollar, down 18.4 won from the previous session. The benchmark KOSPI opened at 5,541.20, up 62.50 points, or 1.14 percent, from the previous session, but quickly turned lower as foreign investors led a broad sell-off. It fell 244.65 points, or 4.47 percent, to close at 5,234.05. Foreign investors and institutions were heavy net sellers, offloading 132.9 billion won ($87.6 million) and 1.4512 trillion won, respectively. Retail investors moved to cushion the decline, buying a net 1.2052 trillion won. Market bellwethers also came under pressure. Samsung Electronics fell 5.91 percent to 178,400 won, while SK hynix dropped 7.05 percent to 830,000 won. A sell-side sidecar was triggered around 2:46 p.m., according to the Korea Exchange, as KOSPI 200 futures fell 5.04
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