Despite news of the first trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom, the KOSPI turned downward on May 9 after rising for four consecutive trading sessions. The KOSDAQ also closed lower. Ahead of the US-China tariff negotiations scheduled for the weekend, the stock market remained in a wait-and-see mode.
On this day, the KOSPI closed at 2,577.27, down 2.21 points (0.09%) from the previous session.
The KOSPI opened the session on the 9th showing a firm trend in the 2580 range. Various indices are displayed on the status board of Hana Bank dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul. 2025.05.09 Photo by Dongjoo Yoon
Although individual investors and foreign investors were net buyers of 63.2 billion won and 68 billion won, respectively, institutional investors were net sellers of 187.1 billion won, dragging the index down. The index started at 2,587.93, up 8.45 points (0.33%) from the previous session, showed a firm trend at first, then turned downward and continued to fluctuate within a narrow range.
Among large-cap stocks, declines outnumbered gains. LG Energy Solution, KB Financial Group, and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries each fell by more than 2%, while Hyundai Mobis dropped by more than 1%. In addition, Celltrion, Hanwha Ocean, Hanwha Aerospace, Shinhan Financial Group, and SK Hynix all closed lower. In contrast, Kia, Hyundai Motor, and NAVER each rose by more than 1%, while Samsung Electronics and Samsung Biologics also finished higher.
Among individual stocks, Netmarble surged by more than 14% on the back of a first-quarter earnings surprise. Netmarble reported consolidated sales of 623.9 billion won and an operating profit of 49.7 billion won for the first quarter.
The KOSDAQ index also reversed course after four sessions, closing at 722.52, down 7.07 points (0.97%) from the previous session.
While individual investors were net buyers of 376.9 billion won, helping to limit the decline, foreign investors and institutional investors were net sellers of 265.9 billion won and 81.9 billion won, respectively, pushing the index lower.
Among major KOSDAQ stocks by market capitalization, Kolon TissueGene and EcoPro BM each posted significant declines of more than 5%. In contrast, SM Entertainment rose by more than 3%, while PharmaResearch, HLB Classys, and Samchundang Pharm ended the session nearly flat.
In the Seoul foreign exchange market, the dollar-won exchange rate was trading at 1,399.90 won, up 3.30 won from the previous day.
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