Asian Stock Markets Slowing

After cracking 2,000 for the first time in history, the Kospi index nose-dived for two days in a row on the plunging U.S. stock market and a large sell-off by foreigners.

In the Seoul stock markets, the Kospi index dropped more than 100 points yesterday to close at 1,883.22, down 80.32 points (4.09 percent) from the previous day.

It was the second steepest drop since April 17, 2000 when the index plunged 93.17 points or 11.63 percent. About 700 issuers saw the value of their shares drop that day, following the record of 780 issuers whose stock prices dropped on October 9 last year.

The Kosdaq closed at 792.06, down 25.22 points or 3.09 percent, yesterday.

The Kospi hit the 2,000 mark for the first time ever on July 25 at 2,004.22 at the closing bell, but went down 121 points over the next two days.

As the stock market suffered a “Black Friday,” the Kospi and Kosdaq posted a 42.6234 trillion won decline in their combined market capitalization. The total market capitalization decrease is estimated at 63 trillion won.

Foreigners’ net selling amount reached a record 847.2 billion won in the Kospi market. In contrast, individual investors posted 713.6 billion won in net buying, purchasing en-masse the stocks foreigners sold.

Other Asian stock markets also slumped.

The Nikkei 225 index declined 2.36 percent from the previous day, while the H-share index (3.57 percent), TWI (4.22 percent) and STI (3.34 percent) all went down sharply.

aryssong@donga.com