Seoul shares open sharply lower on US tech sell-off

Seoul shares plunged sharply on Wednesday, mirroring a decline on Wall Street, as rising bond yields and oil prices dampened investor confidence in technology stocks. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 6.61 percent, closing 453.77 points lower at 6,416.06 just minutes after the market opened. Program trading for KOSPI-listed shares was temporarily halted for five minutes following the suspension of the Korea Exchange's sell-side sidecar, activated when the KOSPI 200 Futures Index plummeted by 5 percent or more within a single minute.

Overnight, major Wall Street indexes had also suffered losses, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.22 percent and the S&P 500 down 0.69 percent. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index experienced a 1.33 percent drop. In the U.S., the 30-year Treasury yield reached its highest level since 2007, driven by worries that surging energy prices could sustain high inflation rates.

In Seoul, the tech sector bore the brunt of the market's downturn, further exacerbating concerns among investors about the potential impact of geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainties.