KOSPI Mixed Trend... Tug of War Between Individuals and Foreigners

On the 24th, when the KOSPI index showed a flat trend in the early session, the KOSPI was displayed on the electronic board in the dealing room of Hana Bank in Euljiro, Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] On the 24th, the KOSPI showed a mixed trend. The market, which started higher, repeatedly fell and rose before turning back to a downward trend. Amid a competition between individual investors' net buying and foreign investors' net selling, the increasing net selling by institutions has led to a declining market. On the same day, the Chinese stock market showed a downward trend as stocks that had surged fell, and it is analyzed that this impact is also affecting the Korean stock market.

At 1:30 PM on the day, the KOSPI recorded 3,050.00, down 20.09 points, a 0.65% decrease from the previous day. Individuals showed a net buying intention of 342.1 billion KRW, while foreigners and institutions showed net selling intentions of 286.3 billion KRW and 45.6 billion KRW, respectively.

Foreign investors are net selling Samsung Electronics, LG Chem, Samsung Electronics Preferred, Samsung SDI, LG Electronics, Celltrion, and HMM, while institutions are increasing their selling proportions in LG Electronics, Celltrion, Samsung SDI, and NAVER.

By industry, the textile and apparel sector is down over 3%. Non-metallic minerals, transportation equipment, and machinery sectors are showing declines in the 2% range. Food, construction, chemical, and insurance industries are experiencing drops in the 1% range.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, Samsung Electronics is up 600 KRW at 82,600 KRW, and SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics Preferred, and Samsung Biologics are continuing their upward trend.

The KOSDAQ also shows that individual investors' net buying is unable to overcome the net selling by foreigners and institutions. At the same time on the day, it recorded 929.47, down 7.13 points, a 0.76% decrease from the previous day. Individual net buying intention was 72.2 billion KRW, while foreign and institutional net selling intentions were 32.3 billion KRW and 26.8 billion KRW, respectively.

By industry, only the telecommunications sector is rising, while the rest are declining. Among the top market capitalization stocks on the KOSDAQ, Celltrion Healthcare, which had shown an upward trend in the morning, reversed to a decline. Celltrion Pharm and Kakao Games are rising.

Seo Sang-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, analyzed, "In the Chinese stock market, a sharp decline centered on high-valuation liquor industry stocks is causing the market to fall," adding, "The outflow of selling pressure due to the slowdown in the Chinese stock market appears to be affecting the Korean stock market as well."