SEOUL, March 9 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's bourse operator activated a circuit breaker on Monday on rising concerns about the Middle East conflict that has led to soaring global oil prices.
The benchmark KOSPI tumbled 449.38 points, or 8.05 percent, to 5,135.49 at 11:27 a.m. local time (0227 GMT), and the smaller KOSDAQ plunged 74.58 points, or 6.46 percent, to 1,080.09.
The Korea Exchange triggered a circuit breaker on the KOSPI market following a bout of panic selling, driven by the growing worry about the prolonged Middle East conflict.
The West Texas Intermediate crude oil price was trading significantly higher, surpassing the mark of 100 U.S. dollars per barrel.
The level 1 circuit breaker was triggered in the KOSPI at 10:31 a.m. local time (0131 GMT) when the index dropped more than 8 percent for at least one minute, suspending trading for 20 minutes.
After the 20-minute suspension, trading resumes with a 10-minute single-price auction.
In the KOSDAQ, a sell sidecar was activated at 10:31 a.m. to halt program trading orders for five minutes.
The KOSDAQ sidecar is triggered when the KOSDAQ 150 futures rise or fall by over 6 percent and the KOSDAQ 150 index rises or falls by over 3 percent simultaneously for at least one minute.
The South Korean won versus the U.S. dollar exchange rate surged, nearing the mark of 1,500 won per dollar. ■
