Foreigners and Institutions 'Buy'... KOSPI Starts Higher

The KOSPI opened higher on the morning of the 1st amid buying pressure from foreigners and institutions.

Employees are working in the dealing room at the Hana Bank Headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

As of 9:27 a.m. that day, the KOSPI index was trading at 2,750.14, up 3.51 points (0.13%) from the previous trading day. The index started at 2,766.24, up 19.61 points (0.71%), but the gains have since narrowed. Foreigners bought 25.3 billion KRW, institutions bought 34.3 billion KRW, while individuals sold 50.3 billion KRW alone.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, SK Hynix (1.91%), NAVER (1.65%), Hyundai Mobis (0.59%), Kakao (0.37%), Samsung Electronics Preferred (0.44%), and Shinhan Financial Group (0.11%) rose. Meanwhile, Samsung SDI (-2.97%), POSCO Future M (-1.32%), Hyundai Motor (-1.07%), Hana Financial Group (-1.04%), Samsung Biologics (-0.96%), LG Chem (-0.91%), and POSCO Holdings (-0.83%) declined.

By sector, services (1.10%), construction (1.01%), textiles and apparel (0.97%), machinery (0.86%), and chemicals (0.60%) were up. On the other hand, electricity and gas (-0.83%), finance (-0.34%), securities (-0.28%), and steel and metals (-0.24%) sectors were down.

On the 29th of last month (local time), the U.S. stock market was closed for Good Friday ahead of Easter. On the same day, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index for February, excluding volatile food and energy, rose 2.8% year-on-year, slightly down from the 2.9% increase in January. Month-on-month, it rose 0.3%, lower than January’s 0.5% increase. The PCE price index measures the prices paid by U.S. residents for goods and services.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ index rose 6.27 points (0.69%) to 911.77 compared to the previous session. The index opened at 909.62, up 4.12 points (0.45%). Individuals and foreigners sold 6.4 billion KRW and 10.1 billion KRW respectively, while institutions bought 19.3 billion KRW.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, Sinseong Delta Tech (8.11%), Samchundang Pharmaceutical (6.05%), Lino Industrial (5.68%), Enchem (3.74%), Hugel (2.67%), Classys (1.70%), and EcoPro (1.58%) rose. Conversely, HLB Life Science (-3.77%), Alteogen (-3.75%), Eotechnique (-3.36%), and ISC (-2.35%) declined.