On the 6th, the KOSPI index opened down 1.8% from the previous trading day. Following the previous day's record high streak, the New York market paused for breath, weighing on domestic stocks.
As of 9:02 a.m. that day, the KOSPI index was trading at 6,480.80, down 117.46 points (1.78%) from the previous trading day. The KOSPI opened at 6,478.75, down 119.51 points (1.81%) from the day before.
By investor type, foreigners and institutions were net sellers of 48.7 billion won and 77.0 billion won, respectively, dragging the index lower, while individuals were net buyers of 133.7 billion won.
Large caps at the top of the market capitalization rankings were broadly weaker. Samsung Electronics(005930) was down 2.34% from the previous day at 240,250 won, and SK hynix(000660) was down 5.73% at 1,572,500 won. Samsung Electro-Mechanics(009150) also fell 5.75%, showing selling concentrated across semiconductors and major tech stocks.
In contrast, Hyundai Motor(005380) (1.05%), Samsung Biologics(207940) (0.94%), and Hanwha Aerospace(012450) (2.58%) were stronger.
Overnight, after a sharp run-up, the New York market entered a breather, which appeared to weigh on investor sentiment in the domestic market. On the 5th (local time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 54,349.12, up 263.24 points (0.49%) from the previous session, renewing its record high on a closing basis.
In contrast, the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 fell 12.97 points (0.17%) to 7,723.55, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 221.55 points (0.83%) to 26,363.44.
In the Middle East, tensions eased amid expectations for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian government said it had reached an agreement on the geographic coordinates of the proposed route in negotiations with Oman over the strait.
Tech stocks were mixed by name. Alphabet, Google's parent, tumbled 4.06% on news that Jeff Dean, a key figure in artificial intelligence (AI) and the company's chief scientist, would leave, leading tech weakness.
In contrast, Nvidia rose 3.44% after space company SpaceX said it would adopt only Nvidia GPUs in full for future AI computing infrastructure.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ index was moving flat, up 2.01 points (0.25%) from the previous trading day at 801.60. KOSDAQ opened at 797.44, down 2.15 points (0.27%) from the previous trading day.
In the KOSDAQ market, individuals were net buyers of 81.6 billion won, while foreigners and institutions were net sellers of 80.3 billion won and 700 million won, respectively.