South Korean Stocks Drop 7.56% as Regulator Calls Emergency Meeting

South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI plunged 7.56% on Thursday, Oct. 15, prompting the country’s financial regulator to convene an emergency meeting as Asian equity losses put regional risk appetite in focus for crypto traders.

The KOSPI fell 454.54 points to 5,554.27 at the close after dropping more than 9% intraday. The move triggered South Korea’s circuit breaker for the 10th time this year. The regulator held its emergency meeting in the afternoon, and losses narrowed later in the session. The index still ended sharply lower.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed down 3,318.34 points, or 4.90%, at 64,425.95. South Korea’s percentage decline was 2.66 percentage points steeper than Japan’s. The Nikkei’s loss was also smaller in percentage terms than the KOSPI’s, though both indexes finished the session lower.

South Korean chipmakers also recorded steep losses. SK Hynix provisionally closed down 11.06%, while Samsung Electronics fell 9.48%. The synchronized declines put regional risk appetite in focus for crypto traders, though the figures describe moves in stock markets.