On the morning of the 14th, the KOSPI continued to weaken by around 2% on simultaneous selling by foreigners and institutions. It plunged more than 3% early in the session to threaten the 6,700 level, but the loss narrowed slightly as individuals absorbed some of the supply.
As of 11:17 a.m., the KOSPI was at 6,749.36, down 160.55 points (2.32%) from the previous session. Right after the open, it fell to 6,692.61, down 217.30 points (3.14%), slipping below the 6,700 level before showing a slight recovery.
In the main board, foreigners and institutions were net sellers of 2.7153 trillion won and 1.0689 trillion won, respectively, pressuring the index. Among institutions, brokerages were net sellers of 840.3 billion won and private equity funds about 177.4 billion won. Individuals, by contrast, were net buyers of 3.2631 trillion won, taking in the supply.
Among large-cap stocks, semiconductor shares are leading the decline. SK hynix(000660), weighed by concerns over HBM (high-bandwidth memory), a slowdown in the semiconductor cycle, and an equity reduction issue, was down 4.42%, while SK Square(402340) fell 5.69%, Samsung Electro-Mechanics 3.79%, and Samsung Electronics 2.70%, all broadly weaker.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ was at 812.73, down 7.91 points (0.96%) from the previous session. On the KOSDAQ, foreigners were net sellers of 108.2 billion won and institutions 52.7 billion won, while individuals were net buyers of 163.7 billion won.
Overnight, New York stocks rebounded for the first time in five sessions after the August CPI (consumer price index) matched the market forecast of 3.4%. But domestic investor sentiment appears to have worsened due to external headwinds, including concerns over disruptions to crude supply after the suspension of operations on Saudi Arabia's east-west oil pipeline and the U.S. 10-year Government Bonds yield approaching 5%.
In addition, a temporary agreement to allow ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz by Middle Eastern countries was delayed, and chief executive officers (CEOs) of major Big Tech companies argued that the pace of AI development should be slowed, which also appeared to weigh on domestic stocks.
Still, even amid broad weakness, funds are flowing into theme stocks with specific catalysts. In security and medical AI, SANDS Lab(411080) jumped 20.51% on expectations for security AI model development and shareholder-return policies, while Raonsecure rose 18.98%, Dream Security 7.44%, AXGATE 5.29%, and SP Soft 3.92%.
In K-beauty cosmetics, major names were broadly higher on strong global exports and the expansion of overseas distribution channels, with Amorepacific(090430) up 5.05%, Kolmar Korea Co. 3.89%, COSMAX Inc. 2.77%, Amorepacific Holdings 2.52%, and LG H&H 2.41%.