Institutions and Foreigners Sell Together... KOSPI Falls Over 1%

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] The KOSPI index recorded a decline of over 1% as institutional and foreign investors increased their selling pressure. The drop widened due to hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve (Fed) and economic lockdown concerns caused by the COVID-19 Delta variant.

As of 1:30 PM on the 21st, the KOSPI stood at 3,233.33, down 1.06% (34.60 points) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 3,264.18, down 0.11% (3.75 points) from the previous day, and the decline has since deepened. Looking at investor trends, individual investors bought stocks worth 1.6303 trillion KRW alone, while foreigners and institutions sold stocks worth 740.7 billion KRW and 875.2 billion KRW, respectively.

Most of the top market capitalization stocks showed a downward trend. Samsung Electronics (-0.87%), SK Hynix (-2.41%), Kakao (-0.65%), NAVER (-0.50%), LG Chem (-0.24%), Samsung Biologics (-0.48%), and Hyundai Motor (-0.85%) declined, while Celltrion (2.52%) and Samsung SDI (-0.74%) rose.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ index was down 0.52% (5.33 points) from the previous trading day, standing at 1,010.55. The KOSDAQ opened at 1,014.59, down 0.13% (1.29 points), and the downward trend continued. Regarding investor activity, individual investors bought stocks worth 181.4 billion KRW alone, while foreigners and institutions sold stocks worth 86.3 billion KRW and 73.5 billion KRW, respectively.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, Seegene rose 15% from the previous day amid growing concerns over the COVID-19 Delta variant. Celltrion Healthcare and Celltrion Pharm increased by 3.73% and 7.18%, respectively. Conversely, Pearl Abyss (-1.5%), Kakao Games (-1.5%), HLB (-2.2%), and CJ ENM (-1.57%) declined.

Seo Sang-young, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, said, “The decline continued due to hawkish remarks from Fed officials and economic lockdown concerns caused by the COVID-19 Delta variant. Although the solid export growth limited the early session’s decline, concerns over economic slowdown led foreigners to engage in large-scale cash and futures selling, creating a negative supply-demand situation.”