On the 8th, the KOSPI started lower, weighed by the mixed performance of U.S. stocks overnight. As the index had been jumping 100 points day after day recently, pressure to take profits has grown.
As of 9:12 a.m. that day, the KOSPI was down 0.39 points (0.01%) from the previous session at 4,550.67. The KOSPI began the session down 0.43% from the previous session at 4,531.46.
In the main board, institutions and foreigners were net sellers of 381.9 billion won and 294.0 billion won, respectively. Only individuals were buying, net purchasing about 679.8 billion won in stocks.
Among large-cap stocks by market value, performance was mixed. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, Korea's major semiconductor names, fell 0.57% and 0.54%, respectively. SK Square (1.63%) and LG Energy Solution (-1.08%) were in the 1% range. In contrast, Hanwha Aerospace (6.34%), HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (4.85%), Hyundai Motor (043%), Samsung Biologics (0.40%), and Doosan Enerbility (0.24%) were rising.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ was up 2.40 points (0.25%) from the previous session at 949.79. The KOSDAQ opened 0.35% higher than the previous session at 950.71.
On the KOSDAQ, only individuals were net buyers, at about 83.6 billion won. Foreigners and institutions sold 68.8 billion won and 11.0 billion won, respectively.
Most top KOSDAQ market-cap stocks were strong. ABL Bio was surging more than 4%, and Sam Chun Dang Pharm (3.33%), LigaChem Biosciences (2.57%), Peptron (2.43%), Kolon TissueGene (3.33%), EcoPro (0.76%), EcoPro BM (0.54%), and Alteogen (0.53%) were rising. HLB (-4.60%) and Rainbow Robotics (-2.90%) were weak.
In the Seoul foreign exchange market that day, the won-dollar rate opened at 1,449.7 won per $1, up 3.9 won from the previous session.
Meanwhile, on the 7th (local time) in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.94% from the previous session at 48,996.08. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 fell 0.34% to 6,920.93, while the Nasdaq rose 0.16% to 23,584.27.