Kakao Posts Strong Q1 Results... Rises Over 3% to Recover 90,000 Won Range
EcoPro BM Gains Over 4% for 2 Consecutive Days
KOSPI and KOSDAQ Led by Individual Investors' Solo Buying
On the 27th, when the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices plunged by over 2%, dealers were working in the dealing room of Hana Bank in Euljiro, Seoul. The U.S. stock market sharply declined due to concerns over a slowdown in the economic recession and earnings uncertainty among big tech companies, which appears to have caused a chain reaction. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@
[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] On the 4th, a day before the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ started higher. Samsung Electronics opened up over 1% following news of a large-scale contract with a U.S. mobile carrier, while Kakao showed strength on strong first-quarter earnings.
As of 9:09 a.m., the KOSPI was at 2,691.22, up 10.76 points (0.40%) from the previous session. Individual investors led the gains with net purchases of 77.4 billion KRW. Meanwhile, foreign investors and institutions were net sellers of 33.1 billion KRW and 46.6 billion KRW, respectively.
In the KOSPI market, 390 stocks rose while 379 declined.
Among the top market cap stocks, Kakao posted the highest gain at +3.39%. Although Kakao’s operating profit slightly missed market consensus in its first-quarter earnings announcement, the strong results appear to have positively influenced its stock price, which recovered to the 90,000 KRW level.
Naver rose +1.42%, and Samsung Electronics gained +1.04%, both showing notable increases. Samsung Electronics’ rise is attributed to news that it was selected as the 5G equipment supplier for the U.S. fourth mobile carrier, DISH Network. The contract is reportedly worth about 1 trillion KRW. SK Hynix and Samsung Biologics remained flat. Only Kia was down -0.36%.
By sector, Electric and Gas Utilities led with +1.66%, followed by Services +1.10%, and Medical Precision +1.00%. The Electric and Gas Utilities sector was boosted by gains in Korea Gas Corporation, Korea Electric Power Corporation, and Seoul Gas. Conversely, Food and Beverage fell -0.64%, Textiles and Apparel -0.20%, Pharmaceuticals -0.23%, and Paper and Wood -0.10%.
As of 9:16 a.m., the KOSDAQ was at 910.06, up 2.49 points (0.27%) from the previous day. Similar to the KOSPI, individual investors were net buyers with 67.1 billion KRW. Foreigners and institutions were net sellers of 53.8 billion KRW and 6.7 billion KRW, respectively. The institutional selling pressure appears to be weakening.
On the KOSDAQ, 650 stocks rose while 619 declined.
Among the top 10 KOSDAQ stocks by market cap, EcoPro BM continued its rise from yesterday with a +4.07% gain today. L&F also rose +2.50%. Kakao Games +1.02%, Cheonbo +1.55%, and Pearl Abyss +0.75% were also up. The rest mostly showed slight declines in the 0% range.
By sector, Telecommunications Equipment +2.61% and General Electric and Electronics +2.59% showed notable gains. Within Telecommunications Equipment, Dasan Networks surged +17.85%, CS +5.95%, and Sollied +4.56%, reflecting broad strength in the sector.
Meanwhile, in the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won-dollar exchange rate opened down 5.8 KRW at 1,262.0 KRW.
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