Photo : YONHAP News
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index(KOSPI) slipped nearly three percent to dip below the five-thousand-800 mark on Thursday after global oil prices surged amid the Middle East crisis.
The KOSPI fell 161-point-81 points, or two-point-73 percent, to close at five-thousand-763-point-22 on Thursday.
The index opened down 163-point-63 points, or two-point-76 percent, from Wednesday at five-thousand-761-point-40.
Foreigners sold a net one-point-87 trillion won worth of shares, while institutional investors unloaded a net 665-point-eight billion won, driving down the benchmark index.
Foreign investors also offloaded a net one-point-four trillion won in the KOSPI 200 futures market.
The tech-heavy KOSDAQ slid 20-point-90 points, or one-point-79 percent, to close at one-thousand-143-point-48.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell one-point-63 percent, the S&P 500 500 lost one-point-36 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped one-point-46 percent in response to geopolitical anxiety in the Mideast.
The won-dollar exchange rate broke one-thousand-500 for the first time since the 2009 global financial crisis.
The South Korean won weakened against the U.S. dollar by 17-point-nine won, closing at one-thousand-501 won per dollar as of 3:30 p.m. on Thursday.