Asian stock markets opened sharply lower in both South Korea and Japan, with South Korea’s market plunging 7% and triggering a circuit breaker. SK Hynix fell 10%, Samsung Electronics fell 8%, the Nikkei 225 dropped more than 3%, and it fell below 63,000 points.

The decline in South Korea’s KOSPI index widened to 7%, with SK Hynix down more than 10% and Samsung Electronics down more than 8%.

A notice from the Korea Exchange (KRX) shows that due to a sharp fall in the KOSPI200-related futures prices, the securities market officially triggered the Side-car “sidecar” mechanism at 9:06:02 a.m. local time on July 28, pausing automated sell order submissions.

Data shows that the price of the KOSPI200 benchmark futures contract fell from 1,070.34 points to 1,001.54 points, a drop of 6.42% (down 68.80 points). Because the futures price decline exceeded 5% and lasted more than 1 minute, automated sell order submissions were paused for 5 minutes.

According to a KRX notice, due to a sharp fall in the KOSDAQ150 futures and spot index, the KOSDAQ market officially triggered the Side-car “sidecar” mechanism at 9:14:47 a.m. local time on July 28, pausing automated sell order submissions. Data shows that the KOSDAQ150 benchmark futures contract price fell from the previous trading day’s closing price of 1,309.80 points to 1,230.20 points, a drop of 6.07% (down 79.60 points); the KOSDAQ150 index fell to 1,224.31 points, a drop of 5.92% (down 77.05 points). Due to the synchronized sharp decline in futures and spot prices, automated sell order submissions were paused for 5 minutes.

The Nikkei 225’s decline widened to 3%, falling below 63,000 points.