'Strong Start, Then a Slump' KOSPI Barely Closes Above 6,000

KOSPI turns lower on foreign investors' "KRW 1 trillion sell-off"
KOSDAQ closes down more than 1.5%

The KOSPI rebounded early on Oct. 14 but gave up its gains and ultimately closed near flat. After ASML released its earnings during the session, gains across semiconductor stocks were limited. The Kosdaq also fell more than 1.5% as foreign and institutional investors both sold heavily, with selling concentrated in semiconductor materials, components and equipment stocks.

The KOSPI closed at 6,008.81 on Oct. 14, down 26.54 points (0.44%) from the previous trading day, marking its sixth consecutive session of losses. It opened higher at 6,062.08, up 26.73 points (0.44%) from the previous close, but foreign investors dragged the index down with net sales of KRW 1.1814 trillion. Individual investors also sold KRW 314.3 billion worth of shares. Institutions were the only group to buy, with net purchases of KRW 808.5 billion.

“Investors remained cautious ahead of the release of the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) for September,” said Lim Jungeun, a researcher at KB Securities. “ASML’s third-quarter earnings, announced during the session, exceeded consensus, but profit-taking limited gains across semiconductor stocks.”

Samsung Electronics, the market’s bellwether, gave up its intraday gains and closed unchanged (0.00%), while SK hynix fell 1.66%. Financial stocks and some pharmaceutical stocks also posted notable losses. Hanmi Pharmaceutical (-10.71%), DB HiTek (-7.04%), JB Financial Group (-6.21%), Isu Petasys (-5.12%), Hanmi Semiconductor (-5.02%), DB Insurance (-4.97%), Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (-4.90%) and Shinhan Financial Group (-4.71%) all fell sharply.

Large-cap stocks in the secondary battery, shipbuilding and shipping, and heavy industries sectors rose. Samsung SDI (5.54%), HMM (5.90%), POSCO Future M (4.63%), SK Innovation (4.08%), APR (4.06%), Hanwha Systems (3.59%), POSCO Holdings (3.34%), Samsung Heavy Industries (3.21%) and LG Energy Solution (2.93%) all gained.

“The secondary battery sector benefited from expectations of improved industry conditions and earnings, driven by a recovery in electric vehicle demand in Europe and growing demand for energy storage systems (ESS) in North America,” Lim said.

The KOSPI and KOSDAQ indexes are displayed on a board at Hana Bank's dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 14th. Yonhap News Agency.

The KOSDAQ closed at 823.88, down 13.15 points (1.57%) from the previous trading day. It opened at 835.90, down 1.13 points (0.14%) from the previous close, and extended its losses during the session. Individual investors were the only net buyers, purchasing KRW 385.3 billion worth of shares, while foreign and institutional investors weighed on the index with net sales of KRW 217.2 billion and KRW 181.1 billion, respectively.

Among the KOSDAQ’s largest companies by market capitalization, EcoPro (3.29%) and EcoPro BM (2.92%) rose. Peptron (7.84%), CJ ENM (6.90%), LS Materials (6.75%), Lake Materials (6.47%) and Daejoo Electronic Materials (5.97%) also surged. Alteogen, the largest company by market capitalization, closed unchanged (0.00%).

By contrast, many of the market’s leading stocks fell sharply, including Hana Micron (-9.42%), Seers Technology (-9.11%), TES (-8.73%), Park Systems (-8.67%), SFA Semicon (-8.48%), JNTC (-8.41%), Jusung Engineering (-8.21%), VM (-8.18%), TLB (-8.04%), Techwing (-7.95%) and Komico (-7.57%).

Lim added, “Investors should watch for increased market volatility as the U.S. September CPI data is released and earnings season gets underway in earnest, as well as for diverging trendsamong individual stocks.”

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