South Korean stocks tumbled again on Wednesday, triggering a temporary trading halt after the benchmark KOSPI index fell more than 8% amid escalating concerns over the economic fallout from the Middle East conflict. The Korea Exchange (KRX) activated circuit breakers on both the KOSPI and the tech-heavy KOSDAQ markets, suspending trading for 20 minutes after the sell-off deepened during morning trading. Earlier in the session, the exchange also issued sell-side sidecars in derivatives markets to pause program-driven sell orders.

The sharp decline follows a plunge of more than 7%in the previous session as investors reacted to the U.S.