KOSPI Turns Lower, Falls Below 7,000 Again

The KOSPI, which had regained the 7200 level, reversed course and sank back to the 6900 range.

As of 1:50 p.m. on August 18, the KOSPI was trading at 6,925.65, down 0.75% from the previous session.

On the 18th, as the KOSPI index rose more than 3% in the early session and regained the 7200 level, the current status of the domestic stock market was displayed throughout the dealing room at the headquarters of Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul. 2026.8.18 Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

The KOSPI opened higher and climbed above the 7200 level earlier in the day, but losses deepened due to selling by institutional investors. While individual investors were net buyers of 373.4 billion won and foreign investors net bought 346 billion won, institutions were net sellers of 660.6 billion won.

Shares of Samsung Electronics surged to 2,880,000 won in early trading, but are currently down 1.3%. SK hynix also gained as much as 6% during the session, but pared gains to 2.3%. Among the largest stocks by market capitalization, SK Square is up 0.78%, Samsung Life Insurance up 3.82%, and Samsung C&T up 1.08%. In contrast, Samsung Electro-Mechanics is down 5.52%, Hyundai Motor down 3.20%, LG Energy Solution down 4.19%, and Samsung Biologics down 1.49%.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ is trading at 846.39, down 2.11% from the previous session. Individual investors are net buyers of 287.2 billion won, while foreign investors and institutions are net sellers of 23.6 billion won and 255.6 billion won, respectively.

Among the top market cap stocks, performances are mixed. Alteogen is down 2.54%, Ecopro down 4.05%, Ecopro BM down 4.37%, Rainbow Robotics down 3.79%, Leeno Industrial down 2.82%, and ABL Bio down 2.97%. Meanwhile, Jusung Engineering is up 3.43%, HLB up 1.51%, Wonik IPS up 0.09%, and EO Technics up 6.06%.

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