On June 26, the domestic stock market closed lower across the board. Both major indices, which had started the session with gains, widened their losses as selling by foreign investors and institutions intensified. This is interpreted as increased pressure for profit-taking due to fatigue from recent short-term rallies.
On this day, the KOSPI index finished at 3,079.56, down 28.69 points (0.92%) from the previous session. The index had opened at 3,108.34, up 0.09 points (0.0%) from the previous close, but soon turned weak as foreign and institutional selling intensified. While foreigners and institutions sold 580.6 billion won and 263.7 billion won worth of shares, respectively, individual investors alone bought 833.5 billion won, supporting the index.
Kim Ji-won, a researcher at KB Securities, commented, "The decline was driven by increased pressure for profit-taking following recent sharp gains," and added, "Both markets fell by more than 2% during the morning session, but managed to recover about half of their losses by the close thanks to buying by individual investors."
Most of the large-cap stocks ended lower. Hanwha Aerospace (2.57%), SK Hynix (2.45%), and KB Financial Group (0.37%) rose, but Kakao (-9.08%), NAVER (-7.94%), Hyundai Motor (-3.46%), HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (-3.09%), Kia (-1.98%), Samsung Electronics (-1.79%), and Doosan Enerbility (-1.67%) declined.
On the same day, the KOSDAQ index ended trading at 787.95, down 10.26 points (1.29%) from the previous session. The index had started at 799.21, up 1.0 point (0.13%) from the previous close, but soon turned lower. Individual investors recorded a net purchase of 236.7 billion won, while foreigners and institutions posted net sales of 168.3 billion won and 56.2 billion won, respectively.
Among the top market cap stocks, selling pressure dominated. Pharmaresearch (3.95%), Rigachem Bio (1.74%), Peptron (1.72%), and Silicon Two (0.71%) gained, while Rainbow Robotics (-4.22%), Kolon TissueGene (-4.10%), HLB (-3.52%), Samchundang Pharm (-2.94%), and Lino Industrial (-2.89%) declined.
By sector, telecommunications equipment and utilities both surged by more than 3%. In contrast, the software sector fell by more than 5% as stablecoin-related stocks underwent corrections. Additionally, the automobile, securities, conglomerate, cosmetics, and banking sectors all ended down by more than 2%.
Researcher Kim said, "Officials from the Federal Reserve, including Powell, have continued to make remarks that are cautious about early rate cuts but still leave the possibility open. At this point, inflation and employment results are crucial," adding, "With the PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures) price index scheduled to be released tomorrow night and the deadline for reciprocal tariff negotiations approaching, it is necessary to prepare for renewed attention to related issues."
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