On the 23rd, when the KOSPI closed at a record high, the KOSDAQ also surged, putting the 1,000-point mark within sight. As pharmaceutical and biotech stocks jumped, the investor fervor that lifted the KOSPI appeared to spill over into the KOSDAQ.
On the day, the KOSDAQ closed at 993.93, up 23.58 points (2.43%) from the previous trading day. Opening at 977.15, up 6.8 points (0.70%) from the day before, the KOSDAQ spiked to as high as 998.32 during the session on a sharp rally in pharmaceutical and biotech stocks, coming right up to 1,000 points. It is the first time in about four years, since Jan. 2022, that the KOSDAQ has neared 1,000.
In the KOSDAQ market, institutions and foreigners were net buyers by about 960 billion won and 80 billion won, respectively. In particular, according to Mirae Asset Securities, institutional net purchases in the KOSDAQ on the day set a record for the largest single-day net buying. However, a significant portion of institutional funds was financial investment flows (about 800 billion won), including individuals' exchange-traded fund (ETF) investments, while pension funds' net buying was only around 40 billion won. Individuals alone net sold 1 trillion won.
Biotech, which had been weak on the Alteogen shock, rebounded across the board. The bellwether Alteogen (4.73%) led gains alongside ABL Bio (10.24%), Sam Chun Dang Pharm (13.74%), HLB (7.71%), Kolon TissueGene (6.81%), and LigaChem Biosciences (12.32%), all of which surged.
Lee Kyung-min, a researcher at Daishin Securities, said, "The KOSDAQ's relative strength, which had been sidelined compared to the KOSPI, stood out," adding, "Amid a rebound in the recently steeply falling biotech sector, easing concentration in large caps and a broadening of flows into small and mid caps produced gains in the 2% range."
Fintech stocks raced ahead on the day. That was after reports that the "KOSPI 5000 Special Committee," at a luncheon with President Lee Jae-myung the day before, proposed leveraging digital assets such as a won stablecoin and security token offerings (STOs) to reach 3,000 points on the KOSDAQ. With expectations rising for the institutionalization of digital assets, Kakao Pay hit the upper limit, and NAVER (8.35%), Danal (29.93%), Hecto Financial (30%), and NHN (5.03%) all gained.
The KOSPI closed at 4,990.07, up 37.54 points (0.76%) from the previous day. It did not surpass 5,000 at the close, but it was a record high. The KOSPI opened at 4,984.08, up 31.55 points (0.64%) from the prior trading day, and jumped to 5,021.13 early in the session to set an intraday record high. However, as profit-taking emerged, intraday gains narrowed.
In the KOSPI market, institutions alone turned net buyers of about 800 billion won. However, most of that was financial investment flows that include individuals' ETF investment funds. Individuals and foreign investors were net sellers of 670 billion won and 233 billion won, respectively.
Among top stocks by market cap, SK hynix (1.59%), HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (2.28%), and Doosan Enerbility (3.67%) closed higher. In contrast, profit-taking was concentrated in recent high-flying leaders such as Samsung Electronics (-0.13%), Hyundai Motor (3.59%), and Hanwha Aerospace (-2.64%).
A warm tailwind also blew through securities. While expectations are building for earnings improvement on the back of the market rally, it appears to reflect hopes that the third amendment to the Commercial Act, centered on mandating the cancellation of treasury shares, will be pushed forward quickly. Mirae Asset Securities (16.58%), Shinyoung Securities (13.02%), NH Investment & Securities (5.03%), and Korea Investment Holdings (4.93%) all climbed sharply.