The Korean stock market won't open until next week, because Friday is a public holiday.<br />However, it seems like 'no-deal summit' between the leaders of Pyeongyang and Washington negatively affected financial markets a day before. <br />Ko Roon-hee reports. <br />It seems like investors were also shocked by the sudden breakdown Thursday of the Kim-Trump summit in Hanoi. <br /><br />South Korea's benchmark KOSPI plunged almost 40 points, or more than one-and-three-quarter percent, to 21-hundred-95.<br /><br />The index was over the 22-hundred mark during mid-day trading, but it began to tumble at 3 PM Korean time...when news broke about the luncheon between Kim and Trump being called off. <br /><br />The tech-heavy KOSDAQ was hit even harder,... slumping around two-point-eight percent to 731.<br /><br />Stocks related to inter-Korean economic cooperation were hit especially hard. <br />Shares related to construction and the Geumgangsan Mountain tour program, such as resorts or cruise-related firms, fell by more than 20-percent. <br /><br />The drop came as many investors were expecting the possible reopening of the tour program after the Hanoi summit.<br /><br />The South Korean currency closed at around 1-thousand-1-hundred-and-24 won against the U.S. dollar, up more than 5 won from the previous day. <br /><br />Analysts say foreign investors in particular offloaded local stocks on Thursday...but added the slump shouldn't last for long time, and other factors such as the U.S-China trade negotiations are more important in the long run.<br /><br />The situation wasn't much different for U.S. stocks.<br />Wall Street edged down on Thursday due to similar reasons...even as a reading on fourth-quarter growth in the U.S. came in better-than-expected.<br />The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost almost zero-point-three percent to 25,916.<br />The Nasdaq dropped zero-point-three percent as well,... to 75-hundred-32. <br />Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News. <br />
