Foreign Investors Sell 870.7 Billion KRW
Following the Trump administration's insistence on imposing tariffs, the domestic stock market plunged over 2% on the 3rd. Meanwhile, some software companies benefiting from China's low-cost AI model DeepSeek continued to show strength.
Due to increased uncertainty in the domestic stock market caused by Trump's tariff war, the KOSPI index plunged by up to 3% during the trading session on the 3rd. The status board in the dealing room of Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul, displays the KOSPI index and the KRW/USD exchange rate. On that day, the KOSPI opened at 2,468.74, down 48.63 points (1.93%) from the previous close, and the KRW/USD exchange rate started the session at 1,446.0 won, up 13.3 won. Photo by Jo Yong-jun
According to the Korea Exchange on the day, the KOSPI index closed at 2,453.95, down 63.42 points (2.52%) from the previous trading day. Foreigners and institutions sold net amounts of 870.7 billion KRW and 373.4 billion KRW respectively, flooding the market with sell orders. Individuals were net buyers with 1.1281 trillion KRW.
The domestic stock market, which started with a sharp drop of over 1% following news that the U.S. would impose additional tariffs of 25% on Mexico and Canada and 10% on China starting from the 4th, saw an expanded decline in the afternoon as selling pressure increased mainly from foreigners. The strong dollar shock caused by the U.S. tariff imposition also contributed to the decline. The dollar-won exchange rate rose by more than 14 won, approaching the 1,470 won level, highlighting the outflow of foreign capital.
Most of the top market capitalization stocks showed a downward trend. Samsung Electronics (-2.67%), SK Hynix (-4.17%), LG Energy Solution (-4.40%), among others. Hyundai Motor and Kia also fell by 1.94% and 5.78% respectively. On the other hand, Kakao, which is expected to benefit from DeepSeek, showed a flat trend in the early session but surged 9.00% in the afternoon following news of collaboration with OpenAI, closing the day with a strong gain. NAVER also closed up 0.23%.
By industry, construction (-2.09%), electric and gas utilities (-0.35%), electrical and electronics (-3.63%), chemicals (-4.42%), finance (-2.20%), distribution (-1.51%), and medical precision (-0.59%) all showed overall weakness.
The KOSDAQ index closed at 703.80, down 24.49 points (3.36%) from the previous session. Institutions sold 191 billion KRW, and foreigners also net sold 100.3 billion KRW. Individuals were net buyers with 295 billion KRW.
Among the top market capitalization stocks, most declined except Rainbow Robotics (3.34%). Alteogen (-5.11%), EcoPro BM (-9.16%), HLB (-1.00%), Ligand Bio (-8.14%), and Ligno Industry (-2.80%) were among the losers.
Ji-won Kim, a researcher at KB Securities, analyzed, “Volatility in the stock market is expected to increase for the time being due to ongoing DeepSeek issues and tariff policy uncertainties. Attention is needed as important economic indicators with significant market impact, starting with the U.S. manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) released on this day, are scheduled.”
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