While the KOSPI has struggled to gain traction after last month's sharp rebound, the KOSDAQ is igniting a recovery. The KOSDAQ, which for the first time ever triggered a buy sidecar for three straight sessions, jumped more than 5% at the close on institutional buying. The KOSPI, which had turned lower intraday, also finished up more than 1% as late-session institutional selling weakened.
On the 4th, the KOSDAQ index closed at 780.72, up 43.37 points (5.88%) from the previous session. Flows were led by institutions. While individuals and foreigners net sold 258 billion won and 277 billion won, respectively, institutions net bought 543 billion won, lifting the index. Institutions showed net buying for three straight sessions, with cumulative net purchases over this period exceeding 1 trillion won.
At about 10:47 a.m. that day, a buy sidecar, which temporarily suspends the effectiveness of program buy orders, was triggered on the KOSDAQ market. It was the third straight session since on the 31st.
This year, the KOSDAQ market has seen sidecars triggered for three straight sessions on Mar. 4–6 (sell, buy, buy) and Jul. 14–16 (buy, sell, sell), making this the third time. However, this is the first time that buy sidecars were triggered on all three sessions.
So far this year on the KOSDAQ market, buy sidecars were triggered 17 times and sell sidecars 13 times, for a total of 30. That is the highest number since the sidecar system was introduced on the KOSDAQ market in Mar. 2001. Gainers totaled 1,505, while decliners numbered 175.
Flows that had flocked to large-cap semiconductors moved into bio first, as well as secondary batteries and robots. The market cap No. 1, Alteogen(196170), rose 9.28%, and LigaChem Biosciences (15.20%) and ABL Bio (13.24%) also climbed sharply. ROBOTIS (7.89%) and EcoPro (5.94%) were also strong.
Kang Jin-hyeok, a researcher at Shinhan Investment & Securities, said, "As large-cap semiconductor stocks remain sluggish amid concerns over CXMT's factory expansion in China, flows are dispersing into other sectors," and noted, "A buy sidecar was triggered on the KOSDAQ due to rotation from the unwinding of semiconductor stocks (reducing and closing existing positions), and the KOSDAQ continues to show relatively stronger momentum than the KOSPI."
Meanwhile, the KOSPI closed at 6,358.95, up 101.50 points (1.62%) from the previous session. After opening up 1.5%, the index turned lower in less than 30 minutes after the open and showed an intraday decline of around 1%. It then rebounded to close higher as late-session institutional selling eased.
Samsung Electronics(005930) and SK hynix reversed higher late in the session to rise 0.21% and 0.64%, respectively, but it was not enough to offset weakness in other large caps. Hyundai Motor and KB Financial Group also fell 0.13% and 0.41%, respectively.
Even as top market-cap stocks underperformed overall, rotation appeared by sector. On expectations for artificial intelligence (AI) businesses, SK Telecom(017670) (11.46%) and Naver (9.16%) surged, and cosmetics names d'Alba Global (7.16%) and APR (6.36%) also rose.
Defense stocks Hanwha Aerospace and LIG Defense&Aerospace also rose 9% and 14%, respectively. On the main board, gainers numbered 788, far outnumbering 96 decliners.
Institutions net sold 539 billion won on the main board. Foreigners, who had been net buying in the morning, turned net sellers and ended the session with 370 billion won in net sales. Individuals alone net bought nearly 818 billion won.