[Asia Economy Reporter Ji-hwan Park] The domestic stock market fell by more than 1% due to simultaneous selling by foreigners and institutions, dropping to the 2930 level. This is interpreted as negative impacts on investor sentiment caused by the spread of Omicron and concerns over accelerated tapering.
As of 9:25 a.m. on the 6th, the KOSPI stood at 2939.24, down 1.05% (31.09 points) from the previous trading day. The KOSPI opened the day at 2954.82, down 0.46% (13.51 points) from the previous day.
By investor type, foreigners and institutions sold net amounts of 28 billion KRW and 53.7 billion KRW respectively. Meanwhile, individuals bought net amounts of 83.7 billion KRW.
Last week, the U.S. stock market saw investor sentiment shrink due to concerns over Omicron, leading to sell-offs mainly in some technology stocks that had expanded gains since the pandemic, causing the Nasdaq to fall nearly 3% at one point. Federal Reserve Chairman Powell's remarks that tapering could accelerate due to inflation concerns also contributed to negative investor sentiment.
Among the top 10 stocks by market capitalization, all showed declines. Samsung Electronics (-0.53%), SK Hynix (-1.27%), NAVER (-2.24%), Samsung Biologics (-1.00%), and Kakao (-2.43%) were all down.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ index stood at 986.46, down 1.20% (12.10 points) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 990.07, down 0.84% (8.40 points) from the previous day.
By investor type, individuals bought net amounts of 132.9 billion KRW. In contrast, foreigners and institutions sold net amounts of 91.5 billion KRW and 44 billion KRW respectively.
The top 10 KOSDAQ stocks by market capitalization also showed notable declines. Celltrion Healthcare (-1.68%), EcoPro BM (-4.60%), Pearl Abyss (-1.23%), L&F (-4.41%), and Kakao Games (-3.05%) were all down.
However, analysis suggests that the volatility expansion trend in the domestic stock market will be limited. Sang-young Seo, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "The U.S. financial market's increased volatility amid weakened risk asset preference raises the possibility of weakened investor sentiment in the Korean stock market. However, considering that the U.S. stock market narrowed losses due to rebound buying before market close, and that changes in foreign exchange and commodity futures markets were limited except for bonds and stocks, the likelihood of volatility expansion similar to the U.S. market is low."
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