Sharp price drop in South Korea, trading halted on Seoul Stock Exchange

The decline follows last week's dismal close on Wall Street, where tech giant Microsoft, among others, fell sharply after the company's interim results.

The sharp decline on the Seoul Stock Exchange led to a temporary trading halt, with Samsung, among others, falling 4 percent. However, the decline comes after the Seoul Stock Exchange's Kospi index has surged 20 percent this year.

Hong Kong is also showing a sharp decline, with the Hang Seng index down 3 percent in retail trading. The decline follows last week's sharp drop in gold and silver prices. The gold price is down 5 percent while the silver price is down 4 percent.