South Korean stock market plunges again, Japanese stock market drops significantly

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plunged 6.37% on the 16th, once again falling below the key 7,000-point mark to close at 6,820.60 points. The two major indices of the Tokyo stock market in Japan also dropped significantly on the same day. Affected by concerns over regional energy supply due to the escalating situation in the Middle East and renewed worries about the valuations of artificial intelligence concept stocks, the Korean stock market opened sharply lower and continued to decline, with the intraday drop of KOSPI once exceeding 7%. Earlier in the day, due to sharp fluctuations in the KOSPI200 index futures, the Korea Exchange implemented the “temporary suspension” mechanism for the 37th time this year, pausing program trading sell orders for five minutes. Impacted by the overnight plunge of SK Hynix's American Depositary Receipts on the New York Stock Exchange, technology stocks in the Korean market faced concentrated sell-offs on the 16th, with Samsung Electronics closing down 8.77% and SK Hynix down 11.53%. Meanwhile, the Bank of Korea (Central Bank) signaled it has officially entered a rate-hiking cycle, further intensifying selling sentiment in the market. The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Korea decided to raise the benchmark interest rate from 2.50% to 2.75%, an increase of 25 basis points. In response to the continued sharp market fluctuations, Korean financial regulators announced regulatory measures on the same day for single-stock exchange-traded funds (ETFs). According to the plan, the minimum initial margin required to invest in such products will be raised from 10 million won to 30 million won (with 1 USD approximately equal to 1,479 won), and the entire amount must be paid in cash. In addition, the minimum trading unit for the products will also be increased. On the same day, Japan’s two major indices closed sharply lower in the Tokyo stock market, with the Nikkei 225 average stock price index closing down by 2.79% and the Tokyo Stock Exchange Price Index by 1.45%. (Xinhua News Agency)