[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] The KOSPI index is engaged in a fierce battle around the early 3000s. Although it fell below 3000 in the early session due to simultaneous selling by foreigners and institutions, it rebounded as foreigners switched to buying amid a decline in the won-dollar exchange rate, showing a mixed trend around the 3000 support level.
As of 10:31 a.m. on the day, the KOSPI was at 3009.63, up 3.47 points (0.12%) from the previous trading day. Foreigners are leading the rebound with net purchases worth approximately 34.2 billion KRW. Individuals, who had been the sole buyers in the early session, switched to net selling of about 15 billion KRW, and institutions are also selling about 12.1 billion KRW.
On this day, the KOSPI fell below 3000 in the early session due to concerns about prolonged inflation expressed by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in the U.S. stock market over the past weekend, but it rebounded after foreigners switched to buying during the session and has been fluctuating since.
Lee Kyung-min, head of the investment strategy team at Daishin Securities, said, "Last week, the U.S. Nasdaq showed weakness, causing increased volatility in the early session and testing the KOSPI 3000 support level. However, the won-dollar exchange rate stabilized, falling from 1,178 KRW to the 1,174 KRW range per dollar, leading to a rebound in the KOSPI. The sharp rebound of SK Hynix in the early session seems to have changed the sentiment toward the semiconductor sector."
Among the top market capitalization stocks, Samsung Electronics, which returned to 60,000 KRW in the early session, recovered to 70,000 KRW (-0.57%), and SK Hynix maintained a strong gain of over 2% ahead of its earnings announcement on the 26th. Hyundai Motor rose 1.69%, and Kia Motors also recorded gains in the 1% range. However, technology stocks including NAVER (-1.14%) and Kakao (-1.57%) showed declines.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ index was down 3 points (0.30%) at 992.07. Individuals were net buyers of about 110.7 billion KRW, while foreigners were net sellers of about 94.7 billion KRW. Institutional net selling decreased to 1.3 billion KRW compared to the early session.
Among the top 10 KOSDAQ stocks by market capitalization, only CJ ENM (+2.31%) showed a solo upward trend. L&F recorded a decline of over 3%, and Pearl Abyss also fell by over 2%. Celltrion Healthcare and Celltrion Pharm recorded losses of around 1%. During the session, HL Biopharma and Wemade managed to rebound but returned to declines of over 2%.
Meanwhile, with domestic COVID-19 vaccination rates surpassing 70%, expectations for easing social distancing measures are growing, and 'With Corona' stocks showed significant gains. On the KOSPI market, Asiana Airlines, Korean Air, and Amorepacific rose about 3%, while on the KOSDAQ market, Norangpungseon recorded a 9% increase.
Shin Seung-jin, a researcher at Samsung Securities, said, "Due to the uncertain macro environment and doubts about the sustainability of future profits permeating the market, theme-driven markets unrelated to macro factors are likely to continue for the time being. Since plans for phased daily recovery will be announced from November, the media and content sectors are expected to benefit."
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