On the 30th, the domestic stock market opened higher despite concerns over a U.S. federal government shutdown (temporary work stoppage).
As of 9:03 a.m. that day, the Kospi was up 7.62 points (0.22%) from the previous session at 3,438.83. Individuals and foreigners were net buyers of 110.9 billion won and 3.9 billion won, respectively, while institutional investors were net sellers of 121.9 billion won.
Among the top stocks by market cap on the main board, moves were mixed. Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Hanwha Aerospace, Shinhan Financial Group, and Hanwha Ocean were rising. In contrast, LG Energy Solution, Samsung Biologics, and KB Financial were falling.
At the same time, the Kosdaq was up 0.41 point (0.05%) from the previous session at 847.12. Individuals alone showed a buying advantage of 83.7 billion won, while foreigners and institutional investors were net sellers of 66.8 billion won and 15.1 billion won, respectively.
Among the top Kosdaq market-cap stocks, Alteogen, ECOPRO BM, and Ecopro were declining, while Peptron, PharmaResearch, Rainbow Robotics, and LigaChem Biosciences were rising.
Overnight, all three major New York indexes closed slightly higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 68.78 points (0.15%) from the previous session, and the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 and the Nasdaq composite rose 17.51 points (0.26%) and 107.09 points (0.48%), respectively.
4th, Nvidia's $100 billion deal with OpenAI was seen as a kind of circular shareholding, easing doubts across the artificial intelligence (AI) theme and spreading optimism centered on tech stocks.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump met with bipartisan congressional leaders to discuss avoiding a federal government shutdown. However, Trump and the leaders reportedly parted after only confirming differences over issues such as extending subsidies for the public health insurance "Obamacare" (ACA, Affordable Care Act).
Historically, shutdowns have not dealt a major blow to the stock market. However, if key economic indicators are delayed due to a shutdown, the market may find it hard to set direction amid uncertainty. Senate Republicans are set to attempt a re-vote on a seven-week stopgap budget on the 30th. If a stopgap budget is not passed this month, the U.S. federal government will enter a shutdown starting on the 1st of next month.
Han Ji-young, a Kiwoom Securities researcher, said, "Even with strength in U.S. AI and semiconductors, the domestic stock market is expected to show a trend of capped upside due to caution over a federal government shutdown and some demand to raise cash ahead of a long domestic holiday."