KOSPI Closes Slightly Lower as Foreign Investors Sell Over 2 Trillion Won

Foreign Investors Net Sell 2.5 Trillion Won
KOSDAQ Closes Firmly Higher

The KOSPI closed slightly lower as foreign investors sold more than 2 trillion won worth of shares. Meanwhile, the KOSDAQ index finished slightly higher.

Yonhap News Agency

On September 17, the KOSPI index ended trading at 6,715.41, down 2.56 points (0.04%) from the previous session. Although it started the day on a relatively firm note, the market turned slightly weaker as foreign investors net sold 2,454.928 billion won worth of shares. In contrast, retail investors and institutions were net buyers, purchasing 526.061 billion won and 229.031 billion won worth of stocks, respectively.

Across sectors, most displayed firm or steady performances. Transportation equipment and parts (+2.40%), machinery and equipment (+1.97%), transport and warehouse (+1.77%), textiles and apparel (+0.95%), and food, beverages and tobacco (+0.93%) all closed higher. However, electrical and electronics (-0.57%), paper and wood (-0.42%), and securities (-0.21%) finished modestly lower.

Among the largest market cap stocks, both Samsung Electronics (-0.3%) and SK hynix (-0.8%) ended the day slightly weaker. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (+6.5%), Hanwha Aerospace (+3.9%), Doosan Enerbility (+1.9%), and Celltrion (+1.7%) closed higher, while Samsung Electro-Mechanics (-3.6%), SK Inc. (-2.1%), Samsung SDI (-1.1%), and Samsung Life Insurance (-1.0%) finished lower.

The KOSDAQ index closed at 822.18, up 6.20 points (0.76%). Foreign investors and retail investors net sold 32.558 billion won and 28.518 billion won worth of shares, respectively, while institutions net bought 47.071 billion won worth.

By sector, with the exception of entertainment and culture (-2.31%), distribution (-0.57%), and textiles and apparel (-0.04%), most sectors finished firm or higher. Publishing and media reproduction (+3.58%), metals (+2.41%), and transportation equipment and parts (+2.09%) showed noticeable gains, while finance (+1.11%), pharmaceuticals (+0.92%), and manufacturing (+0.89%) also had strong performances.

Among the top KOSDAQ market cap stocks, the number one, Alteogen (-0.5%), and number two, Ecopro (+0.1%), remained flat, while Ecopro BM (-1.3%) closed lower. On the other hand, Samchundang Pharm (+4.7%), Rainbow Robotics (+1.1%), and Peptron (+0.9%) maintained strong performances, but PSK (-2.5%), ISC (-2.0%), Wonik IPS (-1.1%), and EO Technics (-1.1%) ended lower.

Kyungmin Lee, a researcher at Daishin Securities, said, "The Korean stock market is digesting the results of the September Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which maintained a hawkish (tightening) stance. As the possibility of an interest-rate hike had already been largely priced in, the market impact was limited, and as the rise in international oil prices has also eased, investor sentiment overall showed a relatively stable trend."

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