The KOSPI index, which had reached a record high during the day, relinquished most of its gains as tariff negotiations with the United States were delayed. The KOSDAQ index closed lower.
On the 24th, the KOSPI index closed at 3190.45, up 6.68 points (0.21%) from the previous trading day. Although the KOSPI index rose to 3237.97 early in the day, it gave back most of its gains after news broke that the scheduled South Korea-U.S. trade talks had been postponed.
On the morning of the same day, the U.S. government unilaterally canceled the schedule for the South Korea-U.S. Treasury and Trade 2+2 talks, which were supposed to be held on the 25th (local time) in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Treasury Department notified via email around 9 a.m. that Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent had an urgent schedule arise, thus postponing the negotiations. As a result, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol, who was preparing to depart from Incheon International Airport, quickly turned back.
The news that the trade talks between the two countries would be postponed somewhat dampened investor sentiment. In particular, Hyundai Motor and Kia, which saw their stock prices soar following news that the U.S. and Japan agreed to lower mutual tariffs on automobiles from 25% to 15%, fell by 2.03% and 1.04%, respectively.
However, foreign investors and institutions, referred to as 'big hands,' showed a large-scale net buying trend. In the Korean securities market, foreigners and institutions net bought 806 billion won and 141.7 billion won worth of stocks, respectively. Individuals sold more than 1 trillion won.
Among the top market capitalization stocks, LG Energy Solution surged more than 9% after news of winning a patent infringement lawsuit related to battery structure against Chinese battery manufacturer Xinwangda.
Additionally, Hanwha Aerospace (3.41%), Doosan Enerbility (3.15%), Samsung Biologics (2.26%), KB Financial (1.65%), and SK hynix (0.19%) also rose. Conversely, Samsung Electronics (-0.60%) saw a decline in its stock price.
The KOSDAQ index closed down 3.67 points (0.45%) at 809.89 from the previous trading day. The index rose to 819.95 during the day but turned downward in the afternoon. It fell below the 810 mark for the first time in eight trading days since the 14th (closing at 799.37).
On that day, in the KOSDAQ market, individuals and institutions net sold 29 billion won and 19.8 billion won, respectively, dragging down stock prices. Only foreigners net bought stocks worth 40 billion won.
The KOSDAQ's top market capitalization stocks showed mixed results. Peptron (-4.05%), Rainbow Robotics (-0.90%), PharmaResearch (-0.69%), Alteogen (-0.42%) all declined. In contrast, ABL Bio (17.82%) and Sam Chun Dang Pharm (5.62%) rose significantly, while Ecopro BM (2.47%), Ecopro (1.56%), and LigaChem Biosciences (0.55%) also increased.
Lee Jae-won, a researcher at Shinhan Investment Corporation, said, 'The KOSPI index hit a record high in early trading following strong earnings announcements from large-cap stocks, but the expectation for tariff negotiations dwindled as the South Korea-U.S. trade talks were postponed, reducing the gains.' He added, 'Next week, we need to wait for announcements that could affect interest rates, such as the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, to confirm whether tariff negotiations can quickly resume.'