The KOSPI index was down more than 1% in early trading on the 29th. The decline appeared to continue on foreign selling.
As of 9:05 a.m., the KOSPI index was at 8,285.47, down 125.74 points (1.49%) from the previous trading day. The KOSPI started the session at 8,334.28, down 76.93 points (0.91%).
In the main board, foreigners were net sellers of 1.0145 trillion won, while individuals and institutions were net buyers of 800.6 billion won and 199.7 billion won, respectively.
Seven out of the top 10 stocks by market cap on the main board were falling. Samsung Electronics was down 3%, while SK hynix, SK Square, Hyundai Motor, Samsung Life Insurance, and Samsung C&T were also declining. Samsung Electro-Mechanics, LG Energy Solution, and Samsung Biologics were rising.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ index was up 22.45 points (2.64%) at 873.82. The KOSDAQ started up 9.03 points (1.06%) at 860.40.
Institutions were leading the KOSDAQ market. While institutions were net buyers of 52 billion won, individuals and foreigners were net sellers of 34 billion won and 14.8 billion won, respectively.
Top market-cap stocks on the KOSDAQ were all rising. While Alteogen, EcoPro, EcoPro BM, Rainbow Robotics, Kolon TissueGene, Jusung Engineering, HLB, LEENO Industrial, and LigaChem Biosciences were gaining, Wonik IPS alone was falling.
On the 26th, the last trading day of last week, the three major U.S. stock indexes all closed lower. On "peak burden," profit-taking continued, led by big tech stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 51,876.11, down 44.51 points (0.09%) from the previous session; the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 closed at 7,354.02, down 3.47 points (0.05%); and the Nasdaq composite closed at 25,297.62, down 60.99 points (0.24%).
Han Ji-young, a Kiwoom Securities researcher, said of the KOSPI index, "With technical buying expected to flow in after the plunge on the 26th, the market will likely remain volatile as it is affected by key U.S. economic indicators such as employment and manufacturing indexes, remarks by key Federal Reserve officials, whether noise in the memory market triggered by Apple expands, Korea's June export data, and the KOSDAQ 30th anniversary ceremony."