Kospi falls below 4,000-point threshold during midday trading

If the index fails to recover before the market closes, it will mark the first time in seven sessions that the Kospi ends below the 4,000 mark.

A screen in Woori Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi opening on Nov. 18. [YONHAP]

The Kospi fell below the 4,000-point threshold during trading on Tuesday.

As of 12:27 p.m., the benchmark index was down 2.30 percent from the previous session, trading at 3,995.06, according to the Korea Exchange. If the index fails to recover before the market closes, it will mark the first time in seven sessions that the Kospi ends below the 4,000 mark. On Nov. 7, the index closed at 3,953.76 after falling 1.81 percent.

The Kospi on Tuesday opened at 4,044.47, down 44.78 points, or 1.10 percent, from the previous trading day. It briefly pared losses in early trading, rising to 4,072.41, but soon reversed course.

As of press time, foreign and institutional investors had net sold 145.2 billion won ($99.2 million) and 555.8 billion won, respectively, while retail investors had net bought 664.2 billion won.

The Kosdaq was also down 2.12 percent at 883.55. Like the Kospi, only retail investors were net buyers, purchasing 409.2 billion won, while foreigners and institutions off-loaded 214.2 billion won and 119.3 billion won, respectively.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY CHO MUN-GYU [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]