On the 21st, the KOSPI index opened lower as the New York stock market showed weakness due to concerns of an economic recession and uncertainty over tariffs. The KOSDAQ index also showed a slight decline.
As of 9:11 a.m. that day, the KOSPI index recorded 2,631.59, down 5.51 points (0.21%) from the previous day. The KOSPI index started the day at 2,633.90, down 0.12%. In the securities market, institutions and foreign investors are net sellers with amounts of 1.04 trillion won and 855 billion won, respectively. Foreign investors alone purchased 1.814 trillion won.
The top market capitalization stocks show mixed trends. Hanwha Aerospace has dropped more than 11% following the announcement of a plan to increase capital by 3.6 trillion won. KB Financial (-1.46%), LG Energy Solution (-0.45%), Hyundai Motor (-0.25%), and Kia (-0.21%) also experienced declines. In contrast, SK hynix (1.67%), Samsung Electronics (0.50%), and Naver (0.48%) are on the rise.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ index is trading at 721.56, down 3.59 points (0.50%) from the previous day. The KOSDAQ index started trading at 724.94, down 0.03%. In the KOSDAQ market, individuals are selling 364 billion won, while institutions and foreign investors are net buyers of 30.8 billion won and 13.1 billion won, respectively.
Among the top stocks in the KOSDAQ, HLB has plummeted by 29.97% after news that its liver cancer drug under development did not receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Ecopro BM also fell by 0.18%, showing a slight downturn. Other stocks such as Kolon TissueGene (7.71%), Sam Chun Dang Pharm (1.82%), Alteogen (1.21%), LigaChem Biosciences (1.21%), and Rainbow Robotics (0.50%) are rising.
On that day, the exchange rate of the won against the U.S. dollar in the Seoul foreign exchange market started trading at 1,466.5 won, up 7.6 won from the previous day.
Overnight, U.S. stocks initially rose due to somewhat dovish results from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), but the three major indices fell due to concerns over the possibility of stagflation and tariff uncertainties.
On the New York stock market, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 41,953.32, down 0.03% from the previous trading day. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index closed down 0.22% at 5,662.89, and the Nasdaq index recorded a drop of 0.33% at 17,691.63.
Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), noted during a congressional hearing in Brussels, Belgium, that if the United States imposes a 25% tariff on European Union (EU) goods, the growth rate of the eurozone could drop by 0.3 percentage points in the first year. This has raised concerns that the eurozone may fall into stagflation.
Also, uncertainty over tariffs remains, with U.S. President Donald Trump having set the implementation date for tariffs to April 2, which has dampened investor sentiment. The so-called 'Magnificent Seven,' referring to seven major tech companies including Nvidia (0.86%), Tesla (0.17%), and Apple (-0.53%), showed mixed patterns.