The KOSPI started higher on the 20th and briefly reclaimed the 7,300 level but quickly turned lower.
As of 9:05 a.m., the KOSPI was down 0.59% (42.63 points) from the previous day at 7,229.03. The KOSPI opened at 7,324.52, up 52.86 points (0.73%) from the previous day, but quickly turned lower.
In the main board, individuals are net buying 382.7 billion won and institutions 238.9 billion won, while foreigners are selling 622.5 billion won.
Most of the top market-cap stocks on the main board are falling. SK hynix, Hyundai Motor, LG Energy Solution, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Doosan Enerbility and Hanwha Aerospace are declining, while only Samsung Electronics and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries are rising.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ was down 17.58 points (1.62%) from the previous session at 1,066.78. The KOSDAQ opened at 1,081.04, down 3.32 points (0.31%) from the previous session.
The KOSDAQ is being led by individuals and foreigners. Individuals are net buying 12.7 billion won and foreigners 4.8 billion won, while only institutions are net selling 10.9 billion won.
Eight of the top 10 KOSDAQ market-cap stocks are falling. Alteogen, which regained the No. 1 spot by market cap, along with EcoPro BM, EcoPro, Rainbow Robotics, Kolon TissueGene, Sam Chun Dang Pharm, HLB and ABL Bio are declining, while only Jusung Engineering and LEENO Industrial are rising.
It is seen as reflecting the impact of a sharp rise in U.S. bond yields overnight that pushed the three major New York indexes to close lower.
The 30-year U.S. Treasury yield at one point on the 19th (local time) rose to 5.197%, the highest since 2007. At the close, it stood at 5.178%, up 5.5 bp (1 bp = 0.01 percentage point) from the previous session. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield also climbed intraday to 4.687%, marking a record high since January 2025.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 322.24 points (0.65%) at 49,363.88, the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 closed down 49.44 points (0.67%) at 7,353.61, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite ended down 220.02 points (0.84%) at 25,870.71.