The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the Korea Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) Index tumbled more than 3% during intraday trading on Feb. 28, as renewed tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump and a sharp decline in Nvidia shares triggered heavy selling by foreign and institutional investors.
As of 1 p.m., the KOSPI stood at 2,540.6, down 81.15 points, or 3.1%, from the previous session. In the KOSPI market, individual investors were net buyers, acquiring 1.33 trillion won ($910 million) worth of stocks, while foreign and institutional investors offloaded 794.7 billion won ($543 million) and 619.5 billion won ($423 million), respectively.
Major blue-chip stocks, including Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and LG Energy Solution, were trading lower.
The KOSDAQ Index also slumped, shedding 23.88 points, or 3.1%, to 746.97. Individual investors were the sole net buyers, picking up 319.8 billion won ($218 million) worth of shares, while foreign and institutional investors unloaded 217.4 billion won ($148 million) and 100.6 billion won ($68.8 million), respectively.
Among the top 10 KOSDAQ-listed stocks by market capitalization, only Sam Chun Dang Pharm remained in positive territory.
Market-wide losses were broad-based, with just three out of 79 industry sectors posting gains. A steep decline in Nvidia shares overnight rattled domestic semiconductor and technology stocks.
Investor sentiment deteriorated further after Trump reaffirmed plans to impose a 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada starting March 4, citing insufficient progress in curbing the inflow of synthetic drugs. He also signaled an additional 10-percentage-point tariff hike on Chinese imports. With South Korea’s stock market closed through March 3 for the Independence Movement Day substitute holiday, risk aversion appeared to deepen.
Meanwhile, the South Korean won, which had recently stabilized, weakened again, nearing 1,460 per U.S. dollar.
