Both Markets Close Up Around 1% on Foreign and Institutional Buying

Samsung Biologics, Hugel and Others Rise Over 5%
Semiconductor and Secondary Battery Stocks Falter

Both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices closed with gains of around 1%. The upward trend appears to have been driven by buying from foreign investors and institutions.

On May 21, the KOSPI finished trading at 2,625.58, up 0.91% from the previous day. After opening at 2,615.90, a 0.54% increase from the previous session, the index generally maintained a steady upward trend throughout the day.

By investor type, foreigners made net purchases of 222.8 billion won, while institutions bought a net 87.6 billion won. Individual investors, on the other hand, sold a net 347.5 billion won.

Almost all sectors ended higher, similar to the early session. The pharmaceutical sector saw the largest gain at 4.54%. The retail and securities sectors also rose by 3.81% and 3.69%, respectively. Other notable increases included machinery and electronic equipment (2.35%), medical and precision instruments (2.10%), construction (1.86%), insurance (1.64%), transportation equipment and parts (1.60%), and finance (1.13%). Only the electrical and electronics sector (-0.38%), telecommunications (-0.26%), and food, beverages, and tobacco (-0.24%) closed slightly lower.

Among the top 10 stocks by market capitalization, Samsung Biologics posted the largest gain at 7.1%. This was followed by Hanwha Aerospace (3.6%), KB Financial Group (1.4%), Celltrion (0.7%), HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (0.5%), and Kia (0.2%). In contrast, SK Hynix (-0.7%), Hyundai Motor (-0.6%), and LG Energy Solution (-0.5%) declined. Samsung Electronics closed unchanged from the previous day.

The KOSDAQ ended at 723.62, up 1.13% from the previous session. This marked the first time in about a month, since April 17, that the index closed more than 1% higher on a closing basis.

In the KOSDAQ market as well, foreigners and institutions were net buyers, purchasing 54 billion won and 87 billion won, respectively. Only individual investors were net sellers, offloading 120.3 billion won.

Similarly, a majority of sectors recorded gains. The largest increases were seen in transportation and storage (2.59%), transportation equipment and parts (2.43%), pharmaceuticals (2.15%), other manufacturing (1.85%), general services (1.81%), medical and precision instruments (1.28%), and manufacturing (1.16%). Only paper and wood products (-0.79%), non-metallic minerals (-0.40%), publishing and media reproduction (-0.26%), and retail (-0.24%) declined.

Among the top KOSDAQ stocks, performance diverged sharply. All of the gainers rose by more than 1%, including Hugel (6.1%), Peptron (4.0%), Alteogen (2.3%), Classys (2.0%), and Ligachem Bio (1.5%). On the other hand, Ecopro BM (-0.4%), Ecopro (-0.3%), Rainbow Robotics (-0.1%), and PharmaResearch (-0.1%) declined. Ecopro finished regular trading unchanged from the previous day.