[Edaily Reporter Kim Kyung-eun ] The KOSPI index plummeted on the 7th, closing below the 7,600 mark. The domestic stock market came to a screeching halt as the “side car”—a temporary suspension of program selling orders—was triggered in the morning, followed by a circuit breaker in the afternoon. SamsungElectronics fell more than 6% despite announcing its best-ever quarterly earnings, failing to hold onto the “300,000 won” level.

According to MP Doctor, the KOSPI closed at 7,656.31 on the 7th, down 395.02 points (4.91%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 7,919.20, down 131.13 points (1.64%) from the previous close, and continued its downward trend. At one point during the session, it dropped as low as 7,389.22.

At 10:23:41 a.m. that day, the effectiveness of program sell orders on the KOSPI market was suspended for five minutes due to fluctuations in the KOSPI 200 futures index. At the time of activation, the KOSPI 200 futures index stood at 1,227.32, down 66.26 points (5.12%) from the previous day’s closing price.

In the KOSPI market, the sell-side sidecar is triggered when the KOSPI 200 futures index falls by 5% or more and remains at that level for one minute. This marks the third trading day since the 2nd that the KOSPI sell-side sidecar has been triggered, and the 16th time this year.

At 1:51:33 p.m. that day, trading on the stock market was suspended for 20 minutes. This was due to the circuit breaker being triggered after the KOSPI index remained down more than 8% from the previous day’s closing level for one minute.

This marks the first time the circuit breaker has been triggered on the KOSPI market in seven trading days, since the 26th of last month. It is the 12th circuit breaker in history and the sixth so far this year.

In particular, continued selling by foreign investors dragged down the index. Foreign investors recorded net sales of 2.9173 trillion won in the market that day, extending their selling streak to 13 consecutive trading days. Institutions also recorded net sales of 309.2 billion won, while retail investors were the only group to record net purchases, totaling 3.1343 trillion won.

By sector, the electrical and electronics, manufacturing, and transportation equipment and parts sectors saw the sharpest declines. In contrast, the entertainment and culture, food, beverages, and tobacco, and textiles and apparel sectors rose.

SamsungElectronics(005930)The stock closed at 297,500 won, down 20,500 won (6.45%) from the previous trading day. SamsungElectronics announced preliminary second-quarter results showing consolidated revenue of 171 trillion won and operating profit of 89.4 trillion won. These figures represent year-over-year increases of 129.31% and 1,810.26%, respectively, marking the company’s all-time highest earnings. However, profit-taking selling pressure emerged as the stock price had already risen sharply due to market expectations being priced in ahead of the earnings announcement.

Kang Jin-hyuk, an analyst at Shinhan Investment Securities, commented, “SamsungElectronics’ preliminary second-quarter results significantly exceeded the earnings consensus (84.6 trillion won),” adding, “Preemptive profit-taking is occurring, particularly among investors concerned that these record-breaking profits may have peaked.”

SK hynix(000660), one of the top two semiconductor companies, also closed at 2,218,000 won, down 125,000 won (5.34%) from the previous session. In addition, most of the top market-cap stocks—including SKSQUARE(402340)(-9.23%), SamsungElectroMechanics(009150)(-9.57%), HyundaiMotor(005380)(-4.78%), LG Energy Solution(373220)(-6.35%), Samsung Life Insurance(032830)(-4.57%), and SAMSUNG C&T CORPORATION(028260)(-5.56%)—were down. Hanwha Ocean(042660), which suffered a setback in the Canadian Next-Generation Submarine Procurement Program (CPSP), closed at 90,100 won, down 26,000 won (22.39%) from the previous session.

The KOSDAQ index closed at 831.23, down 15.84 points (1.87%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 843.74, down 3.33 points (0.39%) from the previous close, and rose as high as 866.59 during the session. However, it turned lower and fell to as low as 812.70 during the session.

By investor type, retail investors were net sellers of 361 billion won, institutional investors were net sellers of 24.6 billion won, and foreign investors were net buyers of 385.5 billion won.

The two stocks with the highest market capitalizations showed mixed performance. Alteogen Inc.(196170)closed at 336,500 won, up 5,500 won (1.66%) from the previous session, while ECOPRO BM CO., LTD.(247540)closed at 119,800 won, down 1,900 won (1.56%).

Among other top-market-cap stocks, ECOPRO CO., LTD(086520)(-1.52%), Rainbow Robotics(277810)(-4.27%), JUSUNG ENGINEERING Co.,Ltd.(036930)(-3.36%), and WONIK IPS Co.,Ltd.(240810)(-9.48%) were down. In contrast, Kolon TissueGene, Inc.(950160)(6.91%) and HLB INC.(028300)(5.85%) were up.