KOSPI Plummets by 1/3 in Dollar Terms

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index has tanked by the biggest margin among G20 bourses as the won weakened to over W1,400 to the U.S. dollar.

Daeshin Securities compared the stock markets of G20 countries in the first nine months of this year and found that the KOSPI plummeted a full third or 33.6 percent. It plunged 22 percent in won terms, but the drop was much greater in dollar terms.

Germany's DAX30 index plunged 31.8 percent, Italy's FTSE MIB fell 31.5 percent, the EU's Euro Stoxx 31 percent and France's CAC40 28.5 percent.

The Japanese stock market also declined markedly in dollar terms. The Nikkei fell just 7.3 percent in yen terms but plummeted 24.4 percent in dollar terms because the Japanese currency devalued even more than the won against the dollar.

Even the trend-busting growth rates of the stock markets of Argentina (up 74.7 percent) and Turkey (up 71 percent) were much less pronounced in dollar terms, rising 23.9 percent and 21.1 percent.

The U.S.' S&P500 also declined 21.7 percent so far this year.