KOSPI falls 21.94 points, KOSDAQ's 100 level collapses

The Daewoo shock, which revived after two years, on Friday brought the stock prices back to the level of one year and five months ago.

The financial market was also plunged into confusion as the dollar soared against won and interest rates sharply rose.

The KOSPI and KOSDAQ renewed the year's low for three straight days due to the Ford Motor's announcement to give up its auction bid for DaewooMotor.

The over-the-counter KOSDAQ index hit the loweest 99.25 in one year and five months after it recorded 96.93 on April 13, 1999.

The KOSPI also closed at 628.20, the lowest since March 31 of last year when it recorded 618.98.

Before the news of Ford's announcement reached the market at about 1:10 p.m., the stock prices of the two markets showed a steady tone amid active trading.

A buying spree stemming from a feeling of relief that the market overcame with less difficulty the simultaneous maturity of futures and options the day before injected fresh air into the bourse. The KOSDAQ index even rose to 103 in the morning.

However, the Ford's giving up its bid to take over Daewoo Motor forced investors to go on a selling spree, plummeting the index.

Foreigners posted net selling of 97.2 billion won and institutional investors 48.4 billion won, while individual investors net-sold 12.3 billion won on the KOSDAQ market.

Meanwhile, the interest rate of national treasury bonds for three-year maturity sharply rose by 0.07 percent to 7.92 from a day earlier due to the news of the Ford amid the heightened uneasy psychology following the oil prices hike.

The U.S. dollar also ended sharply higher against the won, closing at 1,119.90 won, up 4.80 won from 1,115.10 due to the speculation that the foreigners' investment may reduce in the days to come.

Park Hyeon-Jin witness@donga.com