As voting results in the US showed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump leading against Democrat’s Hillary Clinton on Wednesday, the stock markets in South Korea, a major trade partner and longtime political ally, crashed in panic.

Seoul’s main bourse Kospi opened higher than Tuesday in the morning, but began tumbling around 11 a.m. upon news of Trump beating Clinton in major swing states.

The Kospi quickly fell below the 2,000 mark before noon and continued sliding throughout the afternoon. It closed at 1,958.38 at 3:30 p.m., losing 2.25 percent from the previous trading session.

The tech-heavy Kosdaq, where investors bet on riskier stocks, crashed below the 600 mark just after noon when Trump’s victory over Hillary became much clearer, with a project 80 percent chance of winning the presidency. It was the first time the market index had broken the barrier since Feb. 12.

The Kosdaq finished at 599.73, down 3.92 percent from a day earlier.

In market turmoil, the Korean won sharply weakened, as it lost 11.3 won to 1,148.3 won against the US dollar.

Gold surged the most since the Brexit vote in June as traders flocked back into haven assets on reports showing surprise victories for Trump in states critical to his White House hopes.

Bullion jumped above $1,300 an ounce upon the rising possibility of Trump prevailing over Clinton, along with other havens including the yen. Oil and equities, meanwhile, tumbled.

Trump’s triumph had been less expected by investors and even the government here.

Lee Chan-woo, deputy minister of the Finance Ministry had said after a morning meeting on macroeconomics and financial markets: “Financial markets are seemingly moving toward Clinton’s win as I checked the foreign exchange and stock markets as of now.”

Markets around the world, including those of the US, Germany and France, also closed higher Tuesday over dominant forecasts for Clinton’s victory.

“If the opposite happens, we will have to meet again in the afternoon,” he said.

Credit Suisse said in a recent report Hillary’s winning would boost US markets by 7 percent, while the opposite result would shed 5 to 10 percent.

“The victory of Trump itself is a factor elevating policy risks,” said Lee Sang-jae, head of research at Eugene Securities. “Rapid falls would continue for about a month, and not only in Korea.”

Hong Kong’s H shares lost 3.75 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei plunged 5.12 percent as of 3 p.m. Shanghai Composite Stock Index dropped 0.56 percent.

At the meeting, Korea’s financial authorities said they would take measures to stabilize the market in case of wild fluctuations.

“The authorities are closely monitoring the market on an agreement that excessive volatility is not desirable in any direction,” said Choi Sang-mok, first vice minister of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance at the morning meeting. “Changes in the US economic policies by the US president-elect would raise uncertainties in forecasts for the Korean economy.”

The vice minister showed concerns that growing protectionism in the US would increase downward risks in the global economy.

“The Korean market might be hit by an unexpected shock amid the rising volatilities in the global financial market ahead of a US interest rate hike,” Choi added.

Meanwhile, Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission and deputy prime minister nominee for economy, presided over an emergency meeting on markets later in the afternoon to discuss possible implementation of contingency plans.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)