<Anchor> The



world economy is also shaken by the new mutation Omicron. Last weekend, the three major New York indices in the United States all closed down 2%, and the European stock market fell even more. Soaring international oil prices plummeted by about 10%, and the price of US bonds, a safe haven asset, rose. Today (29th), our stock market also collapsed at the 2,900 level at the beginning of the market, and the authorities are also nervous about the instability of the financial market.



Correspondent Jo Ki-ho.



<Reporter>



Even the 2,900 level, which has been maintained for over a year, has been threatened.



It was pushed down to 2,890 units at the beginning of the market, but it closed at 2,909.32 and barely defended.



The market reacted sensitively to the bad news of Omicron, with even the ants that supported our stock market selling 750 billion won.



[Seo Sang-young / Researcher at Kiwoom Securities: (Last) Thursday is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, but on Friday the market was only open in the morning. In a situation where many investors were leaving the stock market, sales were pouring in due to the weakening of investor sentiment, mainly by individuals. That was the cause of the early decline in the Korean stock market today.] As the



exchange rate market fluctuated, money flowed into safe assets, approaching 1,200 won per dollar.



Analysts are skeptical of a further decline in the stock market, but they agree that financial markets will remain volatile for the time being.



[Lee Kyung-min / Researcher at Daishin Securities: Until recently, when the market rose, there were expectations that 'the bottleneck will be alleviated' and 'the year-end consumption season will be good'. maybe...

.] The Korean



government has also taken measures to deal with the growing instability of the global economy.



The government said that the volatility of domestic and foreign financial markets is likely to increase until a clear analysis of Omicron is released, and that it will operate a 24-hour monitoring system to thoroughly check market stabilization measures for each situation.



As the revived consumer sentiment meets a reef called Omicron, there are concerns that the economic growth rate, which was expected to be 4% this year, will be stopped.



(Video coverage: Jang Woon-seok, video editing: Jung Yong-hwa)