Steady Market... Both KOSPI and KOSDAQ End with Modest Gains

Both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ closed slightly higher, maintaining levels similar to their opening prices and ending the session with modest gains.

On April 18, the KOSPI finished at 2,483.42, up 0.53% from the previous day. After opening firmly at 2,473.30, the index showed little fluctuation before closing.

By investor type, institutions alone recorded a net purchase of 79.5 billion won. Foreign investors and individuals posted net sales of 125.3 billion won and 6.9 billion won, respectively.

Almost all sectors rose. Several sectors saw gains of more than 1%, including textiles and apparel (2.12%), non-metallic minerals (1.92%), transportation and storage (1.79%), construction (1.66%), general services (1.37%), and securities (1.04%). Only metals (-0.70%), pharmaceuticals (-0.66%), and medical and precision instruments (-0.33%) declined.

Among the top 10 stocks by market capitalization, more stocks rose than fell. Hyundai Motor (2.9%), Kia (2.7%), and KB Financial Group (2.3%) each gained more than 2%. Hanwha Aerospace (1.7%), Samsung Electronics (0.5%), and SK Hynix (0.1%) also closed higher. On the other hand, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (-1.6%), LG Energy Solution (-1.3%), Celltrion (-1.1%), and Samsung Biologics (-0.7%) declined.

The KOSDAQ also closed up 0.85% from the previous day, finishing at 717.77.

In the KOSDAQ market, individuals and institutions recorded net purchases of 54.7 billion won and 15.7 billion won, respectively. Foreign investors recorded a net sale of 38.2 billion won.

Here too, the number of rising sectors was overwhelming. General services posted the largest gain at 3.22%. Other sectors with gains of more than 1% included transportation and storage (2.93%), entertainment and culture (1.72%), non-metallic minerals (1.21%), food, beverage and tobacco (1.14%), and metals (1.02%). Only two sectors, paper and wood (-0.16%) and chemicals (-0.02%), saw slight declines.

Among the top 10 stocks by market capitalization, more stocks fell than rose. HLB (-1.9%), EcoPro BM (-1.0%), EcoPro (-0.9%), Rainbow Robotics (-0.8%), Hugel (-0.7%), and Classys (-0.4%) posted the largest declines. In contrast, Peptron (10.0%), Alteogen (4.5%), LIG ChemBio (2.4%), and PharmaResearch (0.0%) rose.

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