On the 26th, the KOSPI rose to just below 4,130 points on the back of a large wave of foreign investors' "buy" orders. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the leading semiconductor stocks where foreign money is concentrated, jumped sharply and led the index higher.
That day, the KOSPI closed at 4,129.68, up 21.06 points (0.51%) from the previous session. It was thanks to foreign investors' net purchases totaling 1.7786 trillion won.
Foreign investors have maintained a net buying trend for four trading days in a row since on the 22nd. They also bought KOSPI200 futures worth 57.4 billion won that day. Institutions net bought 387.6 billion won in stocks, while individuals alone net sold 2.226 trillion won.
Samsung Electronics shares rose intraday to 117,000 won. Nomura Securities raised its target price to 160,000 won, saying next year's operating profit at Samsung Electronics will reach 133.4 trillion won. SK hynix also climbed nearly 2%.
A drop in the won-dollar exchange rate against the U.S. dollar appears to have triggered a large inflow of foreign funds. In the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won-dollar rate stood at 1,440.3 won as of 3:30 p.m., down 9.5 won from the previous day.
Lee Jae-won, a researcher at Shinhan Investment & Securities, said, "On the KOSPI, concerns about overvaluation in artificial intelligence (AI) have eased, concentrating foreign inflows into semiconductor stocks," and added, "Expectations that government policy and reduced exchange-rate volatility will spur a shift of funds from overseas to domestic markets were also reflected."
Among other large-cap stocks by market capitalization, SK Square rose 4.21% after being removed from the investment warning list that day. By contrast, Doosan Enerbility (-3.03%), LG Energy Solution (-1.79%), HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (-1.35%), KB Financial (-1.19%), Hyundai Motor (-1.04%), and Kia (-0.99%) were weak.
The KOSDAQ index closed at 919.67, up 4.47 points (0.49%) from the previous session. In the KOSDAQ market, institutions and foreigners also net bought 346.8 billion won and 94.9 billion won, respectively.
Among top KOSDAQ stocks by market cap, ABL Bio jumped more than 6%. During the session, it said it would receive a $40 million upfront payment (about 58.5 billion won) and a $15 million equity investment (about 22 billion won) from global big pharma Eli Lilly and Company for a technology transfer and joint research and development agreement on its "Grabody" platform, drawing strong buying.
Aside from HLB (-1.07%), most large-cap biotech stocks were strong, including LigaChem Biosciences (4.35%), Alteogen (2.09%), Kolon TissueGene (1.90%), and Sam Chun Dang Pharm (1.61%). Rainbow Robotics (-1.87%), EcoPro BM (-0.89%), and EcoPro (0.31%) ended lower.
The researcher said, "With strength in large-cap chipmakers, Wonik IPS rose more than 7%, and semiconductor materials, parts, and equipment companies within KOSDAQ supported the KOSDAQ index on the downside."