KOSPI Uptrend... Institutions and Foreigners Jointly Net Buying

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] On the 9th, the KOSPI started lower but reversed to rise amid net buying by institutional and foreign investors.

On that day, the KOSPI opened at 2.05 points lower at 2,958.15, down 0.07% compared to the previous day's closing price. However, it soon reversed to an upward trend, showing a 0.77% increase from the previous day at 9:13 AM, reaching 2,983.04. Net buying by institutions and foreigners drove the stock market's upward momentum. At the same time, institutions were net buyers worth 111.4 billion KRW, and foreigners were accumulating stocks worth 40.4 billion KRW. Individuals appeared to be realizing profits with net sales of 153.6 billion KRW.

Among all stocks, 626 showed gains, 90 remained unchanged, and 199 declined. Most of the top market capitalization stocks were on the rise. Samsung Electronics traded 0.14% higher at 70,700 KRW, and SK Hynix recorded a 1.40% increase to 100,900 KRW. Semiconductor stocks also showed gains in the U.S. stock market the previous day. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 1.25% compared to the previous day.

NAVER and Kakao also showed gains of 1.35% and 0.80%, respectively. Hyundai Motor Securities released a report on the day forecasting NAVER's sales for next year to reach 8.7998 trillion KRW and operating profit to be 1.7776 trillion KRW, representing increases of 29.4% and 29.5% year-over-year, respectively. Researcher Kim Hyunyong said, "Next year, NAVER is expected to enter a steep profit growth cycle while maintaining high sales growth and a stable margin above 20%. Sales growth will be driven by commerce and content growing over 35% year-over-year, and fintech and cloud services growing over 50%."

Samsung Biologics was up 1.22%. The expectation of securing customers following its participation in the world's largest biopharmaceutical conference, 'CPhI (Convention on Pharmaceutical Ingredients) Worldwide 2021 (CPhI),' seems to have been reflected in the stock price.

By industry, machinery (2.16%), pharmaceuticals (1.20%), and finance (0.83%) showed notable gains. Within machinery, Doosan Bobcat, Korea Steel, and DY Power led the sector's rise with increases exceeding 5%. Doosan Bobcat was up 6.85% compared to the previous day. Researcher Choi Kwangsik of Korea Investment & Securities said, "Since May, stock prices have fallen due to concerns about inflation, logistics disruptions, and supply shortages of key components, but this is a typical phenomenon during a boom period. Usually, price increases follow rising cost ratios, but currently, an unusual large-scale price increase is underway, so next year's sales are expected to increase by 20% due to price hikes and the acquisition of Doosan Industrial Vehicles (0.5 trillion KRW), and EPS is expected to increase by 32%."

At this time, Hiteuron recorded a daily limit up (29.91%) on the KOSPI, and Elivision also rose 14.98%, showing the highest gains.

The KOSDAQ opened at 1,002.51, up 0.01 points, and has expanded its gains to 0.68% at this time. Individuals and institutions are net buyers of 21.6 billion KRW and 4.4 billion KRW, respectively, driving the index higher. Foreigners were net sellers of 21.1 billion KRW.

Among all stocks, 1,004 are rising. Among the top market capitalization stocks, pharmaceutical stocks stand out. Celltrion Healthcare is up 2.76%, and Celltrion Pharm is also rising 3.58%. HL Biotech is up 1.10%.

Researcher Seo Sangyoung of Mirae Asset Securities said, "A strong performance centered on infrastructure-related stocks is expected in the Korean stock market today, similar to the previous day. The Fed officials' expression of confidence in the economy and expectations for improved U.S. growth due to infrastructure investment are expected to have a positive impact on foreign investor demand."

Researcher Han Jiyoung of Kiwoom Securities said, "Semiconductor-related stocks such as NVIDIA (+3.5%) also showed sharp price increases, driven by the metaverse theme, and this is expected to have a positive effect on related stocks in the domestic market today."