On the 14th, the KOSPI index opened down more than 2% on the back of an overnight plunge in U.S. stocks.
As of 9:09 a.m. that day, the KOSPI index was at 4,072.38, down 98.25 points (2.36%) from the previous session. The KOSPI index started the session at 4,061.91, down 2.61% from the previous session.
In the main board, foreigners and institutions are net sellers of 486.8 billion won and 66.5 billion won, respectively. Only retail investors are buying, net purchasing 590.4 billion won.
Blue lights came on across top market-cap stocks. SK hynix is plunging about 5%, and Samsung Electronics and Doosan Enerbility are down in the 3% range. LG Energy Solution (-2.27%), Hyundai Motor (-1.62%), KB Financial (-1.12%), and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (-1.16%) are also falling. Hanwha Aerospace is up a modest 0.10%.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ index was trading at 904.91, down 13.46 points (1.47%) from the previous session. The KOSDAQ index opened at 900.42, down 1.95% from the previous session. In the KOSDAQ market, institutions are net sellers to the tune of 18.3 billion won, dragging down prices. Retail investors and foreigners are net buyers of 20.9 billion won and 18.8 billion won, respectively.
Among top KOSDAQ market-cap stocks, most are weak except ABL Bio (1.16%) and PharmaResearch (1.45%). EcoPro is down nearly 4%, and EcoPro BM (-2.63%), Rainbow Robotics (-2.62%), Sam Chun Dang Pharm (-1.07%), HLB (-0.99%), LigaChem Biosciences (-0.66%), Peptron (-0.64%), and Alteogen (-0.55%) are also declining.
In the Seoul foreign exchange market that day, the won-dollar exchange rate opened at 1,471.9 won, up 4.2 won from the previous session.
Meanwhile, on the 13th (local time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 47,457.22, down 1.65% from the previous session. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 fell 1.66% to 6,737.49, and the Nasdaq dropped 2.29% to 22,870.36.
Although the U.S. federal government's temporary shutdown ended the previous day as the longest on record, investors sold on concerns that economic indicators, set to resume after a long pause, could increase market volatility.
A series of messages from key Federal Reserve officials that a rate cut is unnecessary weakened expectations for a December cut, weighing on stocks.