Market Shows Cautious Sentiment, Only Secondary Stocks Rise... KOSPI Slightly Weak with Selling by Individuals and Foreigners

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] On the 25th, the domestic stock market continued to show a slightly weak trend. The KOSPI index is showing a wait-and-see stance as it faces technical resistance near this year's upper peak.

On this day, the KOSPI index was trading at 2,440.16, down 1.17 points (0.05%) from the previous day. Individuals sold a net amount of 51.3 billion KRW, foreigners sold about 29.5 billion KRW, while institutions bought about 57.1 billion KRW.

The KOSPI, which started with a slight rise, is fluctuating around the 2,440 level. With the US market closed the previous day, positive factors such as the Bank of Korea's baby step (a 0.25%p base rate hike) and the European Central Bank (ECB)'s mention of slowing the pace of tightening have already been reflected in the market.

The index is interpreted as facing technical resistance as it rose near the year's highest point around the 2,500 level the previous day. Lee Jin-woo, a researcher at Meritz Securities, said, "Yesterday, as the Monetary Policy Committee decided the interest rate as expected, the market seems to have entered a wait-and-see mode," adding, "After a sharp rebound in early November, it reached the previous high but is now retreating, and depending on the results of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) in December, there may be an attempt to break through."

Among the top market capitalization stocks, LG Energy Solution, Samsung Biologics, and Samsung SDI are maintaining slight gains. LG Chem (-0.69%) and NAVER (-0.53%), which had rebounded in the early session, have turned down again. SK Hynix is experiencing a drop of over 1%, and Samsung Electronics is down 0.65%. Hyundai Motor and Kia are also recording declines.

SK Innovation is showing a strong rise of over 4% following news that its battery manufacturing subsidiary SK On is strengthening the nickel supply chain with EcoPro and China's Gurinmei (GEM).

Korea Zinc is also rising more than 4% after deciding on a stock swap of its own shares worth 257.6 billion KRW to establish a strategic partnership with LG Chem.

The KOSDAQ index is down 4.04 points (0.55%) at 734.18. Individuals are net buyers of about 44.5 billion KRW, while foreigners and institutions are net sellers of about 32 billion KRW and 2.9 billion KRW, respectively. However, in the KOSPI market, the mood is not good, with 518 stocks rising and 903 stocks falling.

In particular, following the delisting decision of WEMIX, a self-issued coin, from domestic virtual asset exchanges the previous day, Wemade and Wemade Max are trading at the lower limit, and Wemade Play has also dropped by 28%.

Among the top market capitalization stocks in KOSDAQ, EcoPro BM is showing a strong rise of over 4% due to cooperation with SK On, and L&F and EcoPro are showing slight gains. On the other hand, Kakao Games and HLB are down more than 3%, and Celltrion Healthcare and Celltrion Pharm are also showing declines of over 1%. However, Lino Industrial and Chunbo are showing slight gains.