Cheers in the Morning, Sighs in the Afternoon... KOSPI Turns Downward to Close at 9,000 Points

KOSPI Swings 550 Points Intraday Like a Roller Coaster
Setback as U.S.-Iran Talks Face Delays
Profit-Taking Also Weighs on the Market

The KOSPI closed with a slight decline.

The KOSPI finished at 9,052.42, down 11.42 points (0.13%) from the previous session. During the morning, the KOSPI climbed as high as 9,385.59 but dropped to as low as 8,831.72 in the afternoon.

Individual investors made a net purchase of 1.6765 trillion won. Foreign investors and institutional investors recorded net sales of 379.7 billion won and 1.2316 trillion won, respectively.

By sector, insurance (3.32%) and finance (1.04%) rose, while construction (-4.79%), medical and precision instruments (-4.29%), electricity and gas (-3.38%), and pharmaceuticals (-3.14%) declined.

Looking at the top stocks by market capitalization, Samsung Electronics fell by 2.34%, whereas SK hynix (2.94%), SK Square (4.71%), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (3.18%), and Hyundai Motor (2.00%) rose.

The KOSDAQ closed at 966.59, down 34.34 points (3.43%). Individual and foreign investors made net purchases of 77.2 billion won and 487.4 billion won, respectively, while institutional investors recorded a net sale of 584.2 billion won.

By sector, publishing and media reproduction (5.00%) rose, while non-metallic minerals (-5.45%), metals (-5.12%), machinery and equipment (-4.69%), transportation equipment and parts (-4.17%), and chemicals (-3.93%) declined.

Among the leading KOSDAQ stocks by market capitalization, Alteogen (-4.33%), Ecopro BM (-1.68%), Ecopro (-1.28%), Rainbow Robotics (-4.07%), and Jusung Engineering (-9.13%) all declined.

The sharp declines in both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ in the afternoon are attributed to delays in follow-up talks between the United States and Iran. On June 18 (local time), the White House announced that U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance's planned visit to Switzerland for follow-up nuclear negotiations with Iran had been postponed.

Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, "The market was dragged down by instability in the U.S.-Iran ceasefire negotiations and extreme concentration in the semiconductor sector and a few other industries." He added, "There also appears to be increased pressure to take profits after the KOSPI surged by more than 10% this week."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.