KOSPI Hits Yearly High on Samsung Electronics Rally and Foreign-Institutional Dual Buying

Highest at 2822.93 right after opening, annual peak
Foreigners and institutions net buy 640.1 billion KRW, individuals sell 644.7 billion KRW
Samsung Electronics leads index with strong performance on 'HBM expectations'

Thanks to the combined buying spree by foreigners and institutions and the strong performance of the 'blue-chip' Samsung Electronics, the KOSPI index hit a new yearly high.

As of 10:44 AM on the 4th, KOSPI is trading at 2,816.71, up 0.81% (22.70 points) from the previous day. It reached a high of 2,822.93 shortly after the market opened. This surpasses the previous yearly high of 2,812.62 recorded on the 20th of last month.

By investor type, foreigners are buying 186.7 billion KRW, and institutions are purchasing 453.4 billion KRW, totaling 640.1 billion KRW. On the other hand, individuals are net sellers with 644.7 billion KRW.

By sector, insurance (4.23%), securities (2.96%), finance (2.11%), and medical precision (1.17%) are showing particularly strong performance. Conversely, food and beverages (-0.91%), transportation and warehousing (-0.82%), and pharmaceuticals (-0.54%) are weak.

469 stocks are rising, 382 stocks are falling, and 79 stocks are unchanged. Samsung Electronics, which accounts for about 20% of the KOSPI market capitalization, is trading at 83,900 KRW, up 2.57%, following news that it passed Nvidia's High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) test. Samsung Electronics' stock had lagged behind other semiconductor companies like SK Hynix due to failing the HBM test. Meanwhile, SK Hynix is down 2.12%. Among the top 10 stocks by market capitalization, Kia (1.70%), KB Financial Group (2.84%), and Shinhan Financial Group (2.94%) are showing good momentum. Shinhan Financial Group has overtaken Naver to rank 10th in market capitalization. Financial stocks are strong following the announcement of tax support policies related to corporate value-up programs. Hanmi Science, which has seen a resurgence in management rights issues, is up 6.74%.

The U.S. stock market yesterday saw Nvidia and Tesla driving index gains, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices hitting new all-time highs for the first time in three trading days. Expectations for interest rate cuts are growing amid signs of economic slowdown, such as declining employment indicators.

The KOSDAQ index is trading at 839.63, up 3.54 points (0.42%) from the previous day.

By investor type, only individuals are net buyers with 88.2 billion KRW. Conversely, foreigners are net sellers of 66.9 billion KRW, and institutions are net sellers of 8.8 billion KRW.

743 stocks are rising, 783 stocks are falling, and 134 stocks are unchanged. Among the top 10 stocks by market capitalization, HLB is the strongest, up 5.21%, influenced by news of re-pursuing FDA approval for its liver cancer drug. EcoPro BM, ranked first in KOSDAQ market capitalization, and Alteogen, ranked second, are down 0.26% and 0.77%, respectively.