The KOSPI index is moving near the 5,500 level after falling around 1% to 2%. Individuals are buying the shares that foreigners are selling. The KOSDAQ index, which triggered a buy-sidecar after index futures spiked in early trading, has pared gains.
As of 11:20 a.m. on the 6th, the KOSPI index is down around 1% and moving around the 5,520 level. It fell more than 3% in the morning to as low as the 5,410 level, but household funds stepped in to defend the index. The KOSDAQ index, which had jumped more than 2% at the open, is holding gains of over 1% around the 1,120–1,130 level.
A tug-of-war between foreigners and individuals continues. While individuals have been net buyers of more than 2 trillion won on the main board, foreigners are net sellers to the tune of 1.5 trillion won. In particular, foreigners are also net selling nearly 4,000 contracts in KOSPI200 futures.
As cash and futures prices diverge, arbitrage-driven program trading is also producing nearly 1 trillion won in net selling. Pension funds are net buying about 50 billion won, but the financial investment account, where exchange-traded fund (ETF) trades are tallied, is net selling 600 billion won, leaving institutions net sellers of 700 billion won.
Geopolitical tensions remain high as the United States and Iran continue to clash, but the sharp whipsaws seen in recent days have not reappeared. Noh Dong-gil, a researcher at Shinhan Investment & Securities, said, "The index is falling, but it can be interpreted as a 'reversal' of the previous day's surge," and noted, "Foreigners' net selling also looks less like a large-scale reduction in Korean equity exposure and more like partial profit-taking on the previous day's gains."
The KOSDAQ jumped at the open, then pared gains to around 1%. With expectations rising for policies to revitalize the KOSDAQ market, funds flowed into KOSDAQ, but buying appears to have cooled somewhat as analysis emerged that prices had soared too far relative to earnings.
On the main board, defense stocks are strong, while names with rising expectations for earnings improvement, including APR, are climbing.