KOSPI Falls Below 2,600 Amid US Financial Market Turmoil

by Lee Seungjin

Published 22 May.2025 16:07(KST)

The KOSPI closed lower due to the aftermath of instability in the US financial markets.

The KOSPI ended the session at 2,593.67, down 31.91 points (1.22%) from the previous trading day.

This decline is attributed to growing concerns over the US fiscal deficit and a sharp rise in US Treasury yields overnight, which led to a broad decline in the New York stock market and weighed heavily on investor sentiment.

On the 22nd, the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices were displayed on the status board of the dealing room at the Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

On this day, foreign investors and institutions led the decline by recording net sales of 483.2 billion won and 431.8 billion won, respectively, while only individual investors were net buyers, purchasing 945.0 billion won.

Most of the top market cap stocks fell under selling pressure from foreign investors and institutions. Samsung Electronics (-1.80%), SK Hynix (-1.80%), LG Energy Solution (-1.08%), Hanwha Aerospace (-0.48%), KB Financial Group (-1.33%), Hyundai Motor (-2.98%), Kia (-2.19%), HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (-1.25%), and Celltrion (-1.98%) all showed weakness.

Samsung C&T surged at the open on expectations of a restructuring of the Samsung Group's governance structure following the spin-off of Samsung Biologics, but gave up all intraday gains and closed down 0.36%.

The KOSDAQ index also closed at 717.67, down 5.95 points (0.82%) from the previous trading day.

In the KOSDAQ market, foreign investors recorded net sales of 55.0 billion won, institutions 57.4 billion won, while individuals were net buyers with 116.5 billion won.

Top KOSDAQ stocks showed mixed performance. Alteogen (-0.77%), Ecopro BM (-0.34%), Rainbow Robotics (-1.48%), Hugel (-2.73%), and Classys (-1.52%) declined.

However, some pharmaceutical stocks posted significant gains due to a resurgence of COVID-19 in Greater China, including Hong Kong and China. The Biomed, Withus Pharmaceutical, Cellid, and Genexine all hit the daily upper limit.