On the 3rd of this month, it was the day that foreign investors, who had been selling Korean stocks since the state of emergency, made the largest net purchases in 11 trading days. On the 18th, the KOSPI index rose by over 1% thanks to foreign investors’ buying. The KOSDAQ index, which had turned negative during the trading session, also rose nearly 1% thanks to the buying by individual investors at the end.
On that day, the KOSPI index closed at 2,484.43, up 27.62 points (1.12%) from the previous trading day. The KOSPI index opened at 2,463.06, up 0.25% compared to the previous session, and then widened its gains. At one point during the trading session, it rose to 2,492.00, briefly eyeing a breakthrough of the 2,500 mark.
Foreign investors and institutions made net purchases of 267.6 billion won and 133.8 billion won, respectively. In particular, foreign investors, who halted their net selling streak after seven trading days, purchased the most stocks in the securities market since the state of emergency began on the 3rd of this month. Individual investors net sold stocks worth 463.1 billion won.
As technology stocks performed strongly in the U.S. market, the performances of domestic semiconductor giants Samsung Electronics and SK hynix diverged. Samsung Electronics, the top company by KOSPI market capitalization, closed at 54,900 won, up 1.29% from the previous trading day. Samsung Electronics' preferred stock also rose by 1.34%. In contrast, SK hynix, the second-largest by market capitalization, closed at 183,500 won, down 0.27% compared to the previous day.
Hyundai Motor closed at 216,500 won, up 4.84% from the previous trading day. Kia also rose by 6.37%, surpassing 100,000 won. Analysts noted that the news of a potential merger between Japan's second and third-largest automotive companies, Honda and Nissan, acted as positive news for investors.
Financial stocks, including KB Financial, also showed strength. Kiwoom Securities, which announced a cash dividend plan of 7,500 won per share, rose by 5.24%. Shinhan Financial Group, Daol Investment & Securities, Hanwha Life Insurance, and Samsung Securities also saw their stock prices rise. Major stocks in other sectors, such as Samsung Biologics, Celltrion, and NAVER, also closed higher. The stock price of LG Energy Solution fell by 0.26%.
On this day, politically themed stocks experienced volatility. Kolon Mobility Group, known as a theme stock for National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik, and its preferred stock both hit the upper limit. Kolon Mobility Group was classified as a stock related to Woo because its CEO, Ahn Byung-deok, is a high school alumnus of him. Recently, Woo's high recognition rating in polls has been interpreted as stimulating investor sentiment.
Lee Kyung-min, a researcher at the Research Institute of Daishin Securities, noted, 'As foreign and institutional investors led the buying momentum, the losses from the previous day were reversed. It's possible that a wait-and-see attitude will emerge before the upcoming decisions on interest rates by the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) and the Bank of Japan (BOJ), as well as Micron Technology's earnings announcement, but we believe perceptions of excessive losses after two trading days of profit-taking sales following the impeachment motion’s passage were greater.'
The KOSDAQ index closed at 697.57, up 3.10 points (0.45%) compared to the previous trading day. The KOSDAQ index started at 694.94, up 0.47 points (0.07%) compared to the previous day, but turned negative. However, as individual buying pressure increased in the afternoon, it eyed the 700 mark. In the KOSDAQ market, individuals purchased 44.7 billion won alone, while foreigners and institutions sold stocks worth 21.1 billion won and 6.2 billion won, respectively.
Among the top 10 stocks by KOSDAQ market capitalization, Alteogen, Ligand Pharmaceuticals, and Classys saw their stock prices decline. In contrast, Ecopro BM, Ecopro, Hugel, Rino Industry, Sinseong Delta Tech, and Samchundang Pharmaceutical saw their stock prices rise. HLB finished trading at 71,400 won, the same as the previous day.
In the Seoul foreign exchange market, as of 3:30 p.m., the won/dollar exchange rate recorded 1,435.5 won, down 3.4 won from the previous day.