South Korea's stock market opens sharply lower on March 19, pressured by heavy selling from foreign and institutional investors after oil prices jump. Giving up much of the previous day's gains, the KOSPI sinks below the 5,800 level.

As of 9:17 a.m., the KOSPI is down 137.51 points, or 2.32 percent, from the previous session at 5,787.52. It opens down 163.63 points, or 2.76 percent, at 5,761.40 and remains weak in early trade.

In the main board market, foreigners and institutions are net sellers of 310 billion won and 105.5 billion won, respectively, weighing on the index. Retail investors are net buyers of 398.4 billion won on bargain hunting, but they appear unable to defend against the decline.

All of the top 10 stocks by market capitalisation are falling.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics is trading at 200,000 won, down 6,500 won, or 4.08 percent, from the previous session. SK Hynix is also down sharply by 45,000 won, or 4.26 percent, slipping to 1,011,000 won.

Hyundai Motor is down 2.94 percent, LG Energy Solution 1.56 percent, SK Square 2.54 percent, Samsung Biologics 1.78 percent, Hanwha Aerospace 1.15 percent, Kia 1.48 percent and Doosan Enerbility 0.93 percent, all trading lower.

The Kosdaq is also falling. At the same time, the Kosdaq is down 16.67 points, or 1.43 percent, from the previous session at 1,147.71.

In Seoul's foreign exchange market, the won is trading at 1,500.10 per dollar, up 4.90 won from the previous session.