Asia-Pacific Stocks Slump Again, South Korea Triggers Year’s Third Circuit Breaker Intraday

TradingKey - On March 9, Asia-Pacific equity markets suffered a collective rout. Among them, South Korean markets triggered circuit breakers again during intraday trading; the Nikkei 225 Index plunged more than 7% intraday, diving over 4,000 points. The Manila Index in the Philippines fell over 5% during the session, while the Jakarta Composite Index in Indonesia and the Ho Chi Minh Index in Vietnam dropped over 4% intraday.

In the afternoon Asian trading session, the decline in Asia-Pacific stocks narrowed slightly, with the Nikkei 225 closing down 5.20% at 52,728.72 points and the KOSPI closing down 5.96% at 5,251.87 points.

Regarding the Chinese market, FTSE China A50 Index futures fell nearly 3% intraday before narrowing to within 1% by the close. China's three major indices opened lower across the board, with the Shenzhen Component Index and ChiNext Index falling over 3% intraday at one point, and the STAR Market Composite Index dropping over 4% before losses narrowed during afternoon trading.

Amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, rising safe-haven sentiment has put collective pressure on global equity markets. Coupled with U.S. non-farm payroll data falling significantly short of expectations, market capital has remained cautious as traders' preference for cash squeezed stock market liquidity.

During the morning Asian trading session, South Korean stocks triggered circuit breakers again. Bloomberg data shows that traders now expect the Bank of Korea to raise interest rates by approximately 50 basis points over the next 12 months, up from the market expectation of about 25 basis points at the end of last month.

Furthermore, due to the high proportion of foreign ownership in the South Korean stock market, capital is more inclined to withdraw liquidity when systemic risks arise.

Previously, following the sharp rise in South Korean tech stocks driven by the AI boom, some investors began taking profits, leading to a stampede-like sell-off.