2026.03.3001:24:23UTC+00South Korean Shares Plunge Near 4-Week Low

The benchmark KOSPI tumbled more than 4% to around 5,200 on Monday, extending its slide toward the lowest level in nearly four weeks as escalating tensions in the Middle East weakened risk appetite. Investor anxiety deepened after Yemen’s Houthi forces launched missile attacks on Israel over the weekend, signaling a widening of the conflict and sparking a global risk-off shift that dragged down major US and other Asian equity markets. Rising oil prices added to the pressure, with crude climbing above $100 per barrel on mounting fears of supply disruptions, heightening concerns about South Korea’s energy-dependent economy and intensifying inflation and growth risks. The Korean won also stayed under strain near the 1,500-per-dollar mark, as persistent foreign investor outflows amplified the market’s downside momentum. Losses were broad-based across large-cap stocks, including Samsung Electronics (-4.0%), SK hynix (-6.3%), Hyundai Motor (-5.7%), SK Square (-7.5%), and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (-5.8%).