Foreign Investors Sell 3.3 Trillion Won; KOSPI Plunges Over 3%, Closes at 6,680

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix Lead Broad Declines
KOSDAQ Also Ends Down Over 1%

The domestic stock market closed lower, pressured by a large-scale sell-off by both foreign investors and institutions. Factors weighing on the indices included calls from the United States to slow the pace of artificial intelligence (AI) development, the possibility of an interest rate hike, and the prolonged war between the United States and Iran.

On the 14th, the KOSPI finished at 6,684.37, down 225.54 points (3.26%) compared to the previous trading day. Foreign investors and institutions led the decline. Foreign investors recorded a net sell of 3.2996 trillion won, while institutions net sold 1.1716 trillion won. In contrast, individual investors absorbed the sell-off, making net purchases worth 2.9723 trillion won.

By industry, declines predominated. Electrical and electronics (-3.93%), construction (-3.72%), manufacturing (-3.13%), electricity and gas (-2.28%), machinery and equipment (-2.01%), insurance (-1.64%), medical precision instruments (-1.55%), distribution (-1.25%), and finance (-1.02%) all weakened. Meanwhile, transportation and warehousing (1.48%), pharmaceuticals (1.23%), entertainment and culture (1.22%), and textiles and apparel (0.87%) posted gains.

On the 14th, the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices were displayed on the status board in the dealing room of Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News.

Most of the top market capitalization stocks also closed lower. SK Square (-8.17%) and SK hynix (-6.35%) saw pronounced declines, joined by Samsung Electronics Preferred (-5.12%), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (-4.50%), Doosan Enerbility (-4.19%), Samsung Electronics (-4.05%), Samsung Life Insurance (-3.09%), Hyundai Motor (-2.88%), SK Inc. (-2.56%), Samsung SDI (-2.39%), and LG Energy Solution (-2.36%). On the other hand, Hanwha Aerospace (5.18%), Hana Financial Group (2.18%), KB Financial Group (2.08%), and Shinhan Financial Group (1.51%) ended higher.

The KOSDAQ index also finished weak. On this day, the KOSDAQ closed at 806.79, down 13.85 points (1.69%) from the previous trading session. In the KOSDAQ market, foreign investors and institutions net sold 89.4 billion won and 30 billion won, respectively, further weighing on the index. Individual investors made a net purchase of 109.4 billion won.

The majority of top KOSDAQ market capitalization stocks also fell. EcoPro BM (-5.80%), PSK (-5.61%), ISC (-5.26%), Simmtech (-4.95%), Peptron (-4.73%), EO Technics (-3.93%), Rainbow Robotics (-3.56%), HLB (-3.50%), EcoPro (-3.44%), Alteogen (-2.99%), HPSP (-2.25%), Leeno Industrial (-1.96%), ABL Bio (-1.82%), and Samchundang Pharm (-1.80%) all posted declines. In contrast, PharmaResearch (1.02%) and Robotis (0.31%) ended higher.

KB Securities researcher Lim Jeongeun said, "Following the release of the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI), concerns over slowing down AI development, which intensified over the weekend, combined with the postponement of the Hormuz Strait talks and news of a Saudi oil pipeline attack, led to a surge in oil prices and a steep drop in the indices."

She added, "This week, with both the September U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and the Bank of Japan (BOJ) events taking place, market sensitivity is expected to rise. During times of volatility caused by macroeconomic variables, attention should be paid to foreign capital inflows and whether semiconductor stocks can regain leadership."

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