Foreigners Buy 630 Billion Won Worth in Kospi Market
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix Rise 3% and 2%
[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] The KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices closed the session with gains close to 2%.
On the 18th, the KOSPI closed at 2,375.25, up 44.27 points (1.90%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 2,350.48, up 0.84% (19.50 points) from the previous day, and continued to widen its gains. The won-dollar exchange rate closed at 1,317.4 won, down 8.7 won from the previous day.
The main driver behind the rise in the index was foreign investors. Foreigners alone purchased stocks worth 632.7 billion won, while individuals and institutions sold stocks worth 426.9 billion won and 200 billion won, respectively. The relative decline in the won-dollar exchange rate due to easing dollar strength pressure deepened foreign inflows into the domestic stock market.
Seokhwan Kim, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "The possibility of a 100bp rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve weakened, restoring risk asset preference sentiment, and as the dollar's strength eased, foreign buying expanded," adding, "The strong earnings reports from major U.S. banks boosted investment sentiment toward financial stocks."
By sector, the securities index rose sharply by 4.99%. This was followed by construction (3.72%), finance (3.07%), and insurance (2.66%). Among individual stocks, Kiwoom Securities rose 7.5%, Mirae Asset Securities 7.2%, Hanwha Investment & Securities 6.4%, Meritz Securities 6%, Samsung Securities 5.5%, and Yuanta Securities 5.3%. The sharp rise reflected their relatively large declines earlier. On the other hand, the pharmaceutical-related index, which had surged due to an increase in COVID-19 severe cases this month, fell 0.75%.
In the market that day, the duty-free sector showed strength on news that the duty-free allowance is planned to be raised from $600 to $800 for the first time in eight years. Hotel Shilla rose 2.81%, and Shinsegae (2.87%) and Global Tax Free (9.05%) also continued their upward trend.
Among the top market capitalization stocks, Samsung Electronics closed at 61,900 won, up 3.17% from the previous day. SK Hynix rose 2.33%, and NAVER (6.71%), Hyundai Motor (1.09%), LG Chem (0.59%), Kia (1.26%), and Kakao (3.85%) also showed gains. Conversely, LG Energy Solution (-1.75%), Samsung Biologics (-0.86%), and Samsung SDI (-0.36%) declined.
The KOSDAQ index closed at 776.72, up 14.33 points (1.88%) from the previous day. It opened at 770.29, up 7.90 points (1.04%) from the previous day, and continued its upward trend supported by net buying from institutions. On that day, institutions alone purchased stocks worth 18.9 billion won, while foreigners and individuals sold stocks worth 2 billion won and 21 billion won, respectively.
Among the top market capitalization stocks, Celltrion Healthcare (-1.13%), EcoPro BM (-1.52%), HLB (-5.14%), Alteogen (-1.69%), and Seegene (-1.51%) declined, while L&F (1.16%), Kakao Games (1.42%), Pearl Abyss (1.35%), Celltrion Pharm (0.39%), and Chunbo (0.04%) rose.
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