Korean stocks post huge drop in 2000

The Korean stock market posted a substantial slide in major indexes, with the Korea Stock Price Index and Kosdaq recording their sharpest and third sharpest declines in the world.

The Korea Stock Exchange reported that the KOSPI and Kosdaq index as of September 8 had fallen by as much as 38.02% and 61.66% from the beginning of the year.

Also, Thailand's SET and Indonesia's Jakarta Index fell 40.15% and 32.51%. The Manila Index of the Philippines dropped 28.89%.

The report showed the countries that experienced foreign exchange crises around 1997 marked sharp declines among 50 major stocks markets around the world.

On the contrary, China's two stock indexes have jumped 45.08% and 38.7% so far this year, marking the world's highest and second highest gains.

By continent, stock markets in North America and Europe gained an average of 8.42% and 4.53%. Countries in South America and Asia, which have experienced financial crises, plunged 3.29% and 12.33% on average.

Meanwhile, the Korean stock market, which had moved in concert with the U.S. stock market, has not synchronized with the U.S. trend since last June. The coefficiency of correlation between the Nasdaq market of the United States and the Korean stock markets, which hit 0.82 point for the Korea Stock Exchange and 0.73 point for the Kosdaq in April, dropped to 0.19 point and 0.23 point.