Korean Stock Market Mixed in Early Trading: KOSPI Slightly Up, KOSDAQ Turns Downward

Mixed Trends by Investor Type

The Korean stock market showed mixed movements in early trading on September 30.

As of 9:25 a.m. that day, the KOSPI index was trading at 3,433.83, up 2.62 points (0.08%) from the previous day. The index opened at 3,436.00, up 4.79 points (0.14%), and has been fluctuating around the 3,430 level. Foreign investors have purchased 83.6 billion won worth of stocks, while individual investors have bought 65.9 billion won. In contrast, institutional investors have sold off 154.2 billion won worth of stocks.

Among the top stocks by market capitalization, Hanwha Aerospace (1.61%), Hanwha Ocean (1.59%), Kakao (0.83%), HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (0.51%), and Hyundai Mobis (0.51%) saw gains. On the other hand, Celltrion (-1.57%), KB Financial Group (-1.30%), Doosan Enerbility (-1.11%), Samsung Life Insurance (-0.97%), Samsung C&T (-0.80%), and NAVER (-0.73%) declined.

Yonhap News Agency

By sector, transportation equipment and parts (0.88%) and medical precision instruments (0.64%) rose. However, most sectors declined, including securities (-1.26%), textiles and apparel (-0.83%), transportation and storage (-0.80%), electricity and gas (-0.79%), insurance (-0.78%), retail (-0.62%), and pharmaceuticals (-0.53%).

On September 29 (local time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which focuses on blue-chip stocks, closed at 46,316.07, up 68.78 points (0.15%) from the previous session in the New York stock market. The S&P 500, which tracks large-cap stocks, rose 17.51 points (0.26%) to 6,661.21, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 107.085 points (0.48%) to 22,591.154. Although the market lost momentum last week due to doubts over the artificial intelligence (AI) rally, it rebounded on the first trading day of this week thanks to strength in technology stocks.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ index stood at 846.10, down 0.61 points (0.07%) from the previous day. The index started at 847.52, up 0.81 points (0.10%), but then turned downward. Foreign investors have sold 92.4 billion won, and institutional investors have sold 19 billion won, while individual investors have purchased 118.9 billion won.

Among the top KOSDAQ stocks by market capitalization, PharmaResearch (2.41%), Lino Industries (1.54%), Hugel (1.18%), and Voronoi (1.15%) rose. In contrast, Rainbow Robotics (-2.08%), SM Entertainment (-1.66%), Alteogen (-1.61%), ABL Bio (-1.07%), Ecopro (-0.93%), Samchundang Pharm (-0.91%), HLB (-0.77%), and Ligachem Bio (-0.63%) declined.

On this day, Han Ji-Young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, commented, "Despite the strong performance of U.S. AI and semiconductor stocks, the upper limit of stock prices is likely to be constrained due to caution over a possible U.S. federal government shutdown and some investors seeking to secure cash ahead of the extended Chuseok holiday." She added, "Recent news about Korea-U.S. foreign exchange rate negotiations, which is related to the government’s response to the recent sharp rise in exchange rates that injected volatility into the domestic stock market, could also affect foreign capital flows, especially in large-cap stocks."