On the 5th, the KOSPI index plunged nearly 4% and sank to the 5,160 level. The reason was that foreign investors dumped more than 5 trillion won worth of shares on the domestic market. The KOSDAQ index also dropped 3.5%. Individuals made a net purchase of 7.6 trillion won, but it was not enough to defend the indexes.
On this day, foreigners' net selling on the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets was the largest on record since related data began being compiled in 1998. They were net sellers of more than 5 trillion won on the main board and nearly 300 billion won on the KOSDAQ market. Foreign investors also held a selling advantage of more than 1 trillion won in KOSPI200 futures.
The previous net selling by foreigners was 3.3034 trillion won on Feb. 26, 2021.
The KOSPI index ended transaction at 5,163.57, down 207.53 points, or 3.86%, from the previous trading day. As concerns about an artificial intelligence (AI) overvaluation were reignited the day before and U.S. tech stocks fell across the board, Korea's market took a direct hit.
In particular, foreign funds fled in droves. Foreign investors were net sellers of 5.0103 trillion won worth of shares on the main board. They especially unloaded semiconductor names, including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.
Lim Jeong-eun, a KB Securities researcher, said, "The index fell alongside weakening semiconductor investment sentiment," and added, "In particular, about 4.3 trillion won of the foreign net selling was concentrated in the electrical and electronics sector, sending related stocks sharply lower."
Institutions also dragged the index down by dumping 2.0692 trillion won worth of shares. Individuals took all of that supply. Retail investors made a net purchase of 6.7785 trillion won on the day, setting a new high for net buying again following on the 2nd.
On the main board, top market-cap stocks fell across the board. SK hynix, SK Square and Doosan Enerbility fell 6%, and Samsung Electronics and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries lost more than 5%. Hanwha Aerospace plunged 7.33%. Elsewhere, Hyundai Motor (-3.08%), LG Energy Solution (-1.86%) and Kia (-0.38%) were also lower.
The KOSDAQ index also finished transaction at 1,108.41, down 41.02 points, or 3.57%, from the previous trading day. On the KOSDAQ market, foreigners were net sellers of 2.8613 trillion won and institutions 539.9 billion won. Individuals bought 903.4 billion won worth of shares.
Among top KOSDAQ market-cap stocks, red turned to blue across the board. Sam Chun Dang Pharm (-7.88%) and Rainbow Robotics (-6.08%) fell sharply, and EcoPro, EcoPro BM, Alteogen and HLB were weak, down around 4%. ABL Bio (-3.37%), LEENO Industrial (-2.55%) and Kolon TissueGene (-0.50%) also declined.