South Korean stocks tumbled more than 2 percent Thursday as the new cases of the novel coronavirus surged, dimming investors' hopes for a quick global economic recovery, analysts said. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 49.14 points, or 2.27 percent, to close at 2,112.37. Trading volume was heavy at 1 billion shares worth 10.6 trillion won ($8.8 billion), with losers far outnumbering winners 732 to 145.

Foreigners and institutional investors offloaded a net 280.3 billion won and 1.45 trillion won, respectively, while individuals alone scooped up a net 1.3 trillion won.

The index opened lower after the US stocks plunged due to an alarming increase in new COVID-19 infections in the country.

The World Health Organization said it expects the number of global COVID-19 cases to touch 10 million next week, with new daily virus cases in the US surging to nearly 36,000 in the latest tally, close to the record high of 36,426 in late April.

"Renewed worries over the spread of the COVID-19 infections weighed down the market," Lee Won, an analyst at Bookook Securities, said. "A surge in new COVID-19 cases is also affecting the market negatively as the prospect of a global economic recovery is being adjusted."

In Seoul, most large-cap shares across the board closed bearish.

Market kingpin Samsung Electronics lost 1.89 percent to close at 51,900 won, and SK hynix, the world's No. 2 memory chip maker, finished 1.98 percent lower at 84,300 won.

No. 1 automaker Hyundai Motor was down 3.5 percent at 99,400 won. No. 1 chemical firm LG Chem shed 3.29 percent to 499,000 won, and leading steelmaker POSCO dropped 2.7 percent to 180,000 won.

Bio shares were also bearish. Pharmaceutical firm Samsung BioLogics was down 0.49 percent to end at 815,000 won, and another bio firm Celltrion lost 0.94 percent to 316,000 won.

The South Korean won closed at 1,204.7 won against the US dollar, down 5.3 won from Wednesday's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys lost 0.2 basis point to 0.817 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bond shed 0.7 basis point to 1.083 percent. (Yonhap)