KOSPI Fluctuates Around 3,190 in Early Trading... Insurance, Retail, and Cosmetics Stocks Rise

The KOSPI is trading in the 3,190 range in early trading on the 14th.

Employees are working in the dealing room at the Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 14th. Photo by Yonhap News

As of 9:30 a.m. on this day, the KOSPI index was trading at 3,191.34, up 15.57 points (0.49%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 3,175.59, down 0.18 points (0.01%), but soon turned upward. Foreign investors purchased 62.3 billion won worth of shares, and individual investors bought 29.4 billion won. Meanwhile, institutional investors sold 103.5 billion won worth of shares.

Among large-cap stocks, Samsung Life Insurance (up 8.66%), Samsung C&T (up 6.73%), SK Hynix (up 2.21%), Hyundai Motor (up 1.20%), Shinhan Financial Group (up 1.15%), Hyundai Mobis (up 1.14%), and Hanwha Aerospace (up 0.99%) saw gains. In contrast, LG Energy Solution (down 2.02%), Kakao (down 2.00%), Celltrion (down 1.23%), Samsung Biologics (down 1.04%), and Samsung Electronics (down 0.72%) declined.

By sector, insurance (up 5.91%), retail (up 3.30%), food, beverage, and tobacco (up 2.17%), finance (up 1.65%), transportation and storage (up 1.22%), chemicals (up 0.83%), and transportation equipment and parts (up 0.80%) were among those that rose. On the other hand, IT services (down 1.09%), pharmaceuticals (down 0.95%), real estate (down 0.76%), electricity and gas (down 0.73%), and securities (down 0.70%) sectors declined.

On July 11 (local time) in the New York stock market, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which focuses on blue-chip stocks, closed at 44,371.51, down 279.13 points (0.63%) from the previous session. The S&P 500, which tracks large-cap stocks, fell 20.71 points (0.33%) to 6,259.75, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 45.14 points (0.22%) to 20,585.53. The declines were largely attributed to U.S. President Donald Trump intensifying tariff pressure on other countries.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ index rose 1.38 points (0.17%) to 801.85. The index opened at 802.73, up 2.26 points (0.28%), and has been fluctuating since. Foreign investors and institutions recorded net sales of 80.2 billion won and 15.2 billion won, respectively. Individual investors purchased 99.6 billion won worth of shares.

Among the top KOSDAQ stocks by market capitalization, GemVax (up 3.41%), Lino Technology (up 2.99%), HLB (up 1.76%), PharmaResearch (up 1.60%), JYP Ent. (up 1.60%), Silicontwo (up 1.29%), SM (up 1.25%), EO Technics (up 0.93%), and Alteogen (up 0.80%) posted gains. In contrast, ABL Bio (down 3.05%), EcoPro BM (down 1.62%), Classys (down 1.57%), EcoPro (down 1.17%), and Hugel (down 0.86%) declined.

Kim Ji-won, a researcher at KB Securities, stated, "This week is important for assessing the impact of tariff pass-through on prices, as key U.S. economic indicators such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI), retail sales, and industrial production are set to be released." She added, "With the U.S. earnings season kicking off in earnest, this will be a week to pay close attention to external issues."