On the 24th, the KOSPI widened its gains and reclaimed 8,500 points. With U.S. stocks closing lower the previous day on the fallout from a plunge in Asian semiconductor shares, bargain hunting is flowing into Korea's market, which had tumbled the day before.
As of 11:31 a.m., the KOSPI was trading at 8,439.93, up 236.09 points (2.88%) from the previous trading day. Foreign investors are dumping large volumes and are net sellers, but individuals and institutions are buying heavily and pushing the index higher.
The KOSPI opened at 8,356.79, up 152.95 points (1.86%), and the gains have been widening after the open, showing an increase of around 3% at the 8,500 level.
Most of the top market-cap stocks on the main board are strong. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix were up in the 6% and 2% ranges, respectively, at the same time compared with the previous trading day.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung C&T, Hyundai Motor, Samsung Biologics, Doosan Enerbility, and SK were also rallying in succession.
The KOSDAQ is also extending gains in the 3% range. The KOSDAQ started at 905.13, up 13.61 points (1.53%) from the previous trading day. It briefly turned slightly lower early in the session, but as institutions moved to heavy net buying, it recovered to the 910 level. As of 11:31 a.m., it was trading at 916.62, up 25.10 points (2.82%) from the previous trading day.
U.S. stocks finished lower across all three major indexes the previous day on the fallout from a plunge in semiconductor shares in Korea, Japan, and Taiwan.
The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 fell 1.4% from the prior day, and the Nasdaq and the Dow Jones 30 industrials each slipped 2.2% and 0.1%.
In U.S. trading, Micron and SanDisk each plunged 13.2% and 13.7% from the previous session.
Ahead of Micron's earnings on the 24th (local time) and the U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index release on the 25th, investor sentiment appears to have been sharply weakened.
Brokerages also said the news, released early that morning, that Korea failed to be added to the MSCI developed markets index watch list would not significantly affect the domestic market. The analysis was that, based on last week's market accessibility review, Korea received negative marks in five categories and a failure to be added had been the expected scenario.
Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, "Amid perceptions that the sharp drop in semiconductor stocks on Wall Street has already been priced in, technical buying following the previous day's plunge will flow into the Korean market, leading to a rebound start that will claw back the prior day's losses."