SEOUL, March 17 (Xinhua) -- South Korean stocks hit the lowest close in about eight and a half years on Tuesday as worry deepened about the economic fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak across the globe.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dived 42.42 points, or 2.47 percent, to settle at 1,672.44. Trading volume stood at 641 million shares worth 9.5 trillion won (7.7 billion U.S. dollars).
It was the lowest close in nearly eight and a half years since October 2011. The KOSPI tumbled over 4 percent after the opening bell, but it turned into a positive territory in the morning trading, showing an increased volatility.
The index extended losses later amid growing concern about the global economic slowdown from the coronavirus spread across Europe and the United States.
The U.S. Federal Reserve slashed its benchmark interest rate by a full percentage point to near zero on Sunday, and the Bank of Korea (BOK) cut its target rate by half a percentage point to an all-time low of 0.75 percent on Monday.
Those accommodative monetary policies failed to calm down the risk-off sentiment in the financial market.
Foreign investors dumped local stocks for the ninth consecutive session, selling off the domestic currency.
The won/dollar exchange rate jumped 17.5 won to finish at 1,243.5 won per dollar, the highest close in around 10 years since June 2010.
Helped by the BOK's emergency rate cut, bond prices ended higher. Yields on the liquid three-year treasury notes dipped 6.9 basis points to 1.030 percent, and the return on the 10-year government bonds retreated 8.3 basis points to 1.441 percent.
Large-cap shares lost ground. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics diminished 3.3 percent, and memory chip giant SK Hynix lost 0.3 percent. Samsung BioLogics, the biopharmaceutical unit of Samsung Group, dropped 2.9 percent, and the biggest automaker Hyundai Motor slipped 3.4 percent.
