"Foreigners Pushed Out 1 Trillion Won in Gifts" KOSPI Closes Barely at 3130... Strong Wait-and-See Sentiment

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] On the 16th, the domestic stock market, which started higher, closed lower due to selling pressure from foreigners and institutions.

The KOSPI index began the session up 11.98 points at 3165.38 (0.38%↑), and the KOSDAQ index started up 5.06 points at 1047.85 (0.49%↑), but both closed down at 3130.09 (-0.74%) and 1039.43 (-0.32%), respectively. The KOSPI barely held the 3130 level by the close.

Individual investors alone tried to defend the market with net buying but were overwhelmed. Foreign investors turned slightly to net buying in the cash market late in the session, but during the day, both institutions and foreigners exerted strong selling pressure.

Individuals net bought approximately 459.2 billion KRW in the KOSPI and 211.2 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ markets. Foreigners shifted to a net buying position of 18.6 billion KRW only in the KOSPI market but showed net selling of 120.8 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ market. Notably, net selling in futures exceeded 1 trillion KRW. Institutions net sold about 513.2 billion KRW and 72.7 billion KRW, respectively.

Top market capitalization stocks in the KOSPI also failed to avoid weakness. Only Naver closed up 0.37% from the previous day at 402,000 KRW.

Except for Naver, all top 10 market capitalization stocks fell. Samsung Electronics (-1.17%), SK Hynix (-3.26%), Samsung Biologics (-2.14%), Kakao (-0.82%), LG Chem (-0.28%), Samsung SDI (-3.33%), Hyundai Motor (-0.72%), and Celltrion (-2.02%) all closed lower.

Most top market capitalization stocks in the KOSDAQ also declined. Seegene and Lino Industrial dropped more than 3%, while Pearl Abyss and Celltrion Pharm closed down more than 2%.

Kim Seok-hwan, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, analyzed, "The Korean stock market started with a slight rise but turned lower as foreign selling pressure in both cash and futures markets expanded. Especially, foreign net selling in futures exceeded 1 trillion KRW, increasing downward pressure. With the US FOMC meeting next week after the Chuseok holiday, a clear wait-and-see stance is evident."