KOSPI Closes Higher After Early Losses; KOSDAQ Surges Nearly 6%

Foreign Investors Shift from Net Buying to Net Selling
Retail Buying Fuels Market Rally

The KOSPI rebounded and closed higher after overcoming early losses. The KOSDAQ also surged nearly 6%, triggering a buy-side sidecar during the session.

On August 4, at the Korea Exchange, the KOSPI ended trading at 6,358.95, up 1.62% from the previous session. Although the index opened higher, it was pushed down to the low 6,000s before reversing course, only to hover with some volatility after turning downward again around 11 a.m. Later, from about 2:14 p.m., the trend shifted upward, leading to a positive close.

Retail investors were net buyers, with a net purchase of 818.4 billion won, while foreign investors and institutions were net sellers, offloading 370.6 billion won and 539.2 billion won, respectively. Foreign investors participated in net buying through the morning but later switched to net selling.

By sector, all industries rose except for insurance, which fell 1.52%. As shares related to memory semiconductors, such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, lost momentum, a sector rotation was observed. Construction soared by 8.87%, while telecommunications (up 5.56%), metals (up 5.45%), chemicals (up 3.87%), general services (up 3.4%), and medical & precision devices (up 3.38%) also posted gains.

Most of the top market capitalization stocks advanced. LIG Defense & Aerospace jumped 14.5%, SK Telecom rose 11.4%, Hanwha Aerospace gained 9.2%, NAVER increased 9.1%, Samsung SDS climbed 8.1%, Hyundai Rotem rose 7.8%, Doosan Enerbility advanced 7.8%, and Samsung SDI gained 7.7%. In contrast, Samsung Life Insurance declined by 3.3%, Hyundai Mobis dropped 2.4%, Samsung C&T fell 1.9%, and SK slipped 0.9%. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix edged up by 0.2% and 0.6%, respectively.

After opening higher, the KOSPI turned downward on the 4th as employees monitored the stock market and exchange rates in the dealing room at the Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. On this day, the KOSPI started at 6351.38, up 93.93 points (1.50%) from the previous trading day, while the KOSDAQ opened at 748.19, up 10.84 points (1.47%). August 4, 2026 Photo by Cho Yongjun

The KOSDAQ finished trading at 780.72, rising 5.88% from the previous session. The buy-side sidecar (temporary suspension of offers) was triggered at about 10:47 a.m. as the index jumped over 5%—marking the third consecutive session this has occurred, following July 31 and the previous trading day.

Institutional investors led the KOSDAQ's climb. While retail and foreign investors recorded net sales of 277.2 billion won and 258.6 billion won, respectively, institutions were net buyers to the tune of 543.4 billion won.

Among the top KOSDAQ stocks by market capitalization, the rally in bio stocks continued for a second day. Voronoi jumped 18.8%, LIG ChemBio gained 15.2%, D&D Pharmatech climbed 14.2%, and ABL Bio increased 13.2%. On the other hand, Medy-Tion plummeted 16.6%, while Padoo declined 2.2%.

Lee Kyungmin, a researcher at Daishin Securities, analyzed, "Amid the continued weakness in large-cap semiconductor stocks, sector rotation into other industries and the KOSDAQ led to a continuation of the KOSDAQ outperforming the KOSPI, similar to the previous session."

He added, "In Korea's memory sector, profit-taking continued and the decoupling from the U.S. memory sector became more pronounced, with market flows spreading to other industries. Notably, on the KOSDAQ, buying was concentrated in the pharmaceutical and bio sectors, fueling a sharp rally and causing the buy-side sidecar to be triggered for three consecutive sessions."

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