Bargain Hunting Lifts KOSPI Back Above 3,140

KOSDAQ Closes at 784.06, Up 1.46 Percent

The KOSPI, which had plunged last week, closed higher on August 4 due to an influx of bargain hunting.

On this day, the KOSPI ended trading at 3,147.75, up 28.34 points (0.91%) from the previous session. The index started the session flat, climbed as high as 3,157.45 during the day, but gave up part of its gains toward the close.

Institutional investors and foreigners led the rise in the index by net buying 131.7 billion won and 83.1 billion won worth of stocks, respectively, in the main board market. Individual investors, on the other hand, were net sellers of 300 billion won.

Just before hitting the reporting point, the KOSPI, which had plummeted, rose nearly 1% intraday. On the 4th, the KOSPI, along with the won/exchange rate, was displayed on the monitor in the dealing room of Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul. On this day, the KOSPI opened at 3,114.27, down 5.14 points (0.16%) from the previous trading day, but it is rising more than 1% intraday. 2025.8.4 Photo by Cho Yongjun

Most of the top-cap stocks closed higher.

Samsung Electronics rose 1.16%, while SK hynix ended flat. Doosan Enerbility surged 4.72%, making it the most prominent gainer among the top KOSPI stocks by market capitalization.

Samsung Biologics and Celltrion climbed 1.35% and 1.52%, respectively. KB Financial Group advanced 2.26%.

In contrast, shipbuilding stocks were weak. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean fell 2.73% and 2.64%, respectively.

Lee Jaewon, a researcher at Shinhan Investment Corp., explained, "The decline was partially recovered due to perceptions that the drop caused by concerns over the tax reform proposal was excessive, the influx of bargain hunting, and signs of changes to the tax reform proposal." He added, "Depending on this week's major corporate earnings announcements, there could be selective net buying of individual stocks."

Han Inhwan, a researcher at KB Securities, said, "The tax reform proposal is only the government's draft and could be revised during the parliamentary process after its submission. In September, further amendments to the Commercial Act will be pursued, and at the end of the year, the MSCI Developed Market Index inclusion roadmap will be announced. Therefore, industries benefiting from policy measures should continue to attract attention even after the fourth quarter."

The KOSDAQ closed at 784.06, up 11.27 points (1.46%) from the previous day. Institutions were net buyers of 72.8 billion won worth of stocks, while foreigners and individuals were net sellers of 38.5 billion won and 25.7 billion won, respectively.

On the KOSDAQ market, bargain hunting was seen mainly in stocks that had recently underperformed.

In particular, bio stocks stood out with strong gains. Alteogen rose 2.37%, Peptron gained 5%, HLB advanced 3.91%, LigachemBio climbed 6.68%, Samchundang Pharm increased 1.46%, Hugel rose 1.4%, and ABL Bio gained 2.14%.

EcoPro BM and EcoPro also rose 0.65% and 0.63%, respectively.

In the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won-dollar exchange rate was trading at 1,384.3 won per dollar, down 4 won (0.29%) from the previous day.