On the 19th, the direction of the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indexes was split by the leading stocks in each market. The KOSPI index closed higher, buoyed by a rally in Samsung Electronics, while the KOSDAQ index fell sharply due to significant declines in Alteogen. A day before the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate decision, the market showed no distinct direction.
On this day, the KOSPI index finished at 2628.62, up 16.28 points (0.62%) from the previous day. In the KOSPI market, foreign investors net bought 307.2 billion won, and institutions net purchased 286.5 billion won, while individuals net sold 676.7 billion won.
Samsung Electronics, the top company by market capitalization in the KOSPI market, ended trading at 58,500 won, up 1.56% from the previous day.
On this day, Samsung Electronics held its regular shareholders' meeting and announced plans to pursue significant mergers and acquisitions (M&A) this year. In the meeting, Han Jong-hee, Vice Chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics, noted, "While we have continuously pursued M&A in various ways for future growth, it is true that we have unfortunately not achieved significant results in large M&A." He added, "This year, we will strive to carry out more meaningful M&A to show visible results."
He also indicated plans to enhance shareholder value. Vice Chairman Han stated, "The entire management and employees are well aware that recovering the stock price is most certainly tied to performance and a recovery in technological competitiveness that meets market expectations," and committed to making every effort to secure fundamental technological competitiveness and achieve solid results to restore the stock price.
The American investment bank Morgan Stanley raised its target price for Samsung Electronics from 65,000 won to 70,000 won. In a report, Morgan Stanley said, "We believe NAND is better than specialized DRAM and prefer standard double data rate (DDR) 5 over high bandwidth memory (HBM)," and added, "To achieve significant rewards, costs are necessary and uncertainty must be accepted in semiconductor investments."
Morgan Stanley also raised the target price for SK hynix from 150,000 won to 230,000 won. As a result, the stock price of SK hynix increased by 1.23% from the previous day.
Among the top KOSPI stocks, LG Energy Solution (1.69%), Hyundai Motor (1.75%), and Kia (0.73%) also rose. Conversely, Samsung Biologics (-0.46%), Celltrion (-0.11%), and Hanwha Aerospace (-1.05%) experienced slight declines.
On this day, the KOSDAQ index closed at 738.35, down 7.19 points (0.96%) from the previous day. In the KOSDAQ market, foreign investors sold 173.8 billion won, and institutions sold 23 billion won, while individuals purchased 217.8 billion won.
Alteogen, the number one company by market capitalization in the KOSDAQ market, finished trading at 419,000 won, down 5.52% from the previous day. This is interpreted as a result of profit-taking activity.
On the 17th, Alteogen signed a technology transfer agreement worth 2 trillion won with AstraZeneca. The size of the contract is significant, and concerns over a patent dispute with U.S.-based Halozyme Therapeutics have been dispelled. As a result, its stock price jumped 12.12% on that day and rose 0.91% on the 18th.
Among the top KOSDAQ stocks, ECOPRO BM (0.54%), SME (6.72%), and Celltrion Pharm (0.74%) all increased, while HLB (-6.26%), Rainbow Robotics (-4.78%), and Kolon TissueGene (-0.71%) declined.
Meanwhile, in the Seoul foreign exchange market, the exchange rate for the Korean won against the U.S. dollar closed at 1453.4 won, up 0.5 won from the previous day.