Both Markets Close Higher... KOSDAQ Rises Nearly 1% on Foreign Buying

Financial Stocks Lead Gains
Pharmaceuticals and Biotech Also Rise

Both of Korea's major stock markets closed higher. The KOSDAQ index, buoyed by foreign buying, ended the session with a gain of nearly 1%.

On the 29th, the KOSPI closed at 2,565.42, up 0.65% from the previous day. After opening slightly higher, the index continued to rise, reaching as high as 2,571.41 during the morning session. Although some of the gains were pared back in the latter part of the session, the index managed to stay above the 2,560 level.

Institutional buying appeared to support the index. Institutions recorded a net purchase of 365 billion won, while foreigners and retail investors posted net sales of 230 billion won and 278.8 billion won, respectively.

Almost all industry sectors posted gains. Securities (3.02%) and pharmaceuticals (2.19%) led the way, with insurance (1.96%), machinery·equipment (1.75%), medical·precision instruments (1.60%), finance (1.55%), paper·wood (1.42%), textiles·apparel (1.40%), food·beverage·tobacco (1.33%), chemicals (1.24%), and construction (1.22%) also rising by more than 1%. Only two sectors?transportation equipment·parts (-0.78%) and transportation·storage (-0.18%)?declined.

Most of the top 10 stocks by market capitalization also showed strength. Celltrion posted the largest gain at 3.4%. Hyundai Motor and Kia each rose by 2.0%, Samsung Biologics gained 1.4%, and KB Financial climbed 1.0%, among other stocks that advanced by more than 1%. Only Hanwha Aerospace (-2.3%) and SK Hynix (-0.6%) declined.

The KOSDAQ index closed at 726.46, up 0.98% from the previous session. After a slightly higher open, the index continued its steady upward trend throughout the day.

On the KOSDAQ market, both foreign and institutional investors were net buyers, purchasing 146.8 billion won and 41.2 billion won, respectively. Retail investors alone recorded a net sale of 173.9 billion won.

Again, most sectors posted gains. The entertainment·culture sector surged by 3.06%. Other sectors rising by more than 1% included general services (1.85%), pharmaceuticals (1.77%), food·beverage·tobacco (1.53%), distribution (1.36%), medical·precision instruments (1.04%), and other manufacturing (1.02%). Declining sectors were limited to publishing·media reproduction (-0.92%), transportation·storage (-0.36%), paper·wood (-0.31%), non-metals (-0.29%), and transportation equipment·parts (-0.16%).

Many of the top market cap stocks advanced. Hugel (4.3%), Legochem Bio (3.4%), and PharmaResearch (3.1%) each closed up more than 3%. Alteogen (1.5%), Classys (1.1%), and HLB (1.0%) also gained. Only Ecopro BM (-2.1%) and Ecopro (-0.3%) declined.