South Korean stocks started sharply lower Wednesday on news of new US strikes on Iran and overnight tech losses on Wall Street.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 197.16 points, or 2.43 percent, to 7,899.77 at the opening bell. It later fell 125.98 points, or 1.56 percent, to 7,970.95 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The US struck Iran in response to the shooting down of an American Apache helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz, according to foreign media, which sapped investors' risk appetite. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed 0.97 percent lower, and the S&P 500 dropped 0.26 percent. Major tech shares led the market decline, with Broadcom losing 1.12 percent, Apple sliding 3.64 percent, Micron falling 1.4 percent and Nvidia down 0.2 percent. In Seoul, Samsung Electronics kicked off 2.8 percent lower, while SK Hynix dropped 2.08 percent. The Korean won was trading at 1,516 won against the US dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 3.9 won from the previous session.
