KOSDAQ Falls Over 2%... Breaks Below 800 Level for First Time in 7 Months

Limited Impact of Middle East Conflict in the Morning
Index Declines in the Afternoon Due to Weakness in Battery and Entertainment Sectors

On the 10th, the status board in the dealing room at the Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, displayed the KOSPI and the KRW/USD exchange rate. Despite the armed conflict between Israel and Palestinian Hamas, the KOSPI rose more than 1% in early trading, recovering to the mid-2440s. The KRW/USD exchange rate started at 1,348.4 won, down 1.5 won from the previous trading day's closing price, and has been fluctuating in the mid-1340 won range in early trading. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

The KOSDAQ index fell below the 800 mark for the first time in about seven months since March 20. The shock from the Middle East conflict that occurred over the weekend was limited immediately after the market opened but showed increased volatility in the afternoon.

As of 2:34 PM on the 10th, the KOSDAQ was trading at 797.17, down 2.23% (19.22 points) from the previous trading day. The index started the day at 821.22, up 0.59% (4.83 points), and showed a steady trend throughout the morning but reversed to a decline in the afternoon.

In the morning, institutions were the sole net sellers, pulling the index down, and currently, individuals and institutions are net selling 600 million KRW and 6.1 billion KRW respectively. On the other hand, foreigners are net buying 22 billion KRW alone.

The top 10 stocks by market capitalization are mostly in a downward trend. The top two battery stocks by market capitalization are sharply falling. The declines are as follows: EcoPro BM -5.31%, EcoPro -4.77%, JYP Entertainment -3.82%, Alteogen -3.81%, POSCO DX -3.48%, L&F -3.27%.

Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, "While the outflow of demand from leading thematic stocks in KOSDAQ such as secondary batteries, entertainment, and AI is a factor, the lingering concerns over the expansion of the war between Israel and Hamas also seem to have an impact. However, unlike the fourth Middle East conflict (oil shock), anti-Israel sentiment is low, and considering that oil demand forecasts are not as strong as in the past, the probability of the worst-case scenario is low."