Foreigners and Institutions Sell Together, 6% Decline
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix Top Net Sellers
KOSDAQ Index Also Falls by Over 7%
The KOSPI index fell below the 2500 mark during the afternoon session on the 5th as foreign selling intensified. Foreign investors sold off 1.3 trillion KRW worth of stocks in the securities market in a single day, focusing on semiconductor leaders Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
As of 1:28 PM on the 5th, the KOSPI index was trading at 2489.04, down 187.15 points (6.99%) from the previous close. The index started the day down about 2%, then widened its losses during the session, retreating below 2500 around 1 PM. There were 14 advancing stocks and 919 declining stocks.
By investor type, foreigners were net sellers of 1.3796 trillion KRW in the KOSPI market, and institutions also sold 170.3 billion KRW. However, individual investors were the only net buyers, purchasing 1.4911 trillion KRW.
By sector, the largest declines were seen in Medical Precision (-8.24%), followed by Electrical and Electronics (-7.92%), Chemicals (-7.87%), Chemicals (-7.83%), Machinery (-7.70%), Transportation Equipment (-7.57%), Textile and Apparel (-7.10%), Manufacturing (-7.26%), Finance (-6.94%), and Construction (-6.93%).
Top market cap stocks also suffered widespread losses. Major stocks including Samsung Electronics (-9.05%), SK Hynix (-8.78%), LG Energy Solution (-2.53%), Samsung Biologics (-0.88%), Hyundai Motor (-6.76%), Samsung Electronics Preferred (-7.26%), Celltrion (-2.69%), Kia (-7.56%), KB Financial Group (-7.09%), and POSCO Holdings (-7.01%) all declined.
The top foreign net selling stocks by amount for the day were Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Kia, LG Chem, Samsung Electronics Preferred, LG Electronics, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung SDI, NAVER, and Doosan.
During the day, a sidecar mechanism was even triggered. The KOSPI sell-side sidecar was activated at 11:00 AM, and the KOSDAQ sell-side sidecar was triggered at 1:05 PM. The KOSPI sell-side sidecar was activated for the first time in 4 years and 5 months since March 2010, when the COVID-19 crisis began. The KOSDAQ sell-side sidecar was triggered for the first time in 9 months since last November. When a sidecar is activated, program sell orders are suspended for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, at the same time, the KOSDAQ index was down 55.61 points (7.14%) from the previous close, trading at 723.72. The KOSDAQ index started the day with a decline of about 1%, then widened losses during the session, plunging to the 720 level. There were 34 advancing stocks and 1624 declining stocks.
In the KOSDAQ market, individual investors led the decline by selling 291.9 billion KRW worth of stocks, while foreigners and institutions bought 209 billion KRW and 78.4 billion KRW, respectively.
Among the top market cap stocks, EcoPro BM (-3.98%), Alteogen (-5.25%), EcoPro (-2.85%), HLB (-0.86%), Samchundang Pharm (-10.03%), Enchem (-7.85%), Celltrion Pharm (-7.40%), Classys (-2.36%), Rigakem Bio (-9.33%), and Hugel (-7.22%) all declined.
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