Photo : YONHAP News
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index(KOSPI), which broke the eight-thousand mark for the first time in intraday trading Friday, ended below seven-thousand-500 following a sharp decline.
According to the Korea Exchange, the KOSPI closed at seven-thousand-493-point-18, down 488-point-23 points, or six-point-12 percent, marking the second-largest decline on record.
The difference between the highest and lowest poins in intraday trading was 675-point-one points.
The main bourse opened down 29-point-66 points, or zero-point-37 percent, from the previous session at seven-thousand-951-point-75, then turned upward to hit eight-thousand-46-point-78, just seven sessions after breaching seven-thousand points.
The authorities halted program selling for the first time in a month during afternoon trading, after the KOSPI 200 Futures Index fell five-point-09 percent from the previous trading day to one-thousand-182 points.
The tech-heavy KOSDAQ also lost 61-point-27 points, or five-point-14 percent, to close at one-thousand-129-point-82.