'Foreign and Institutional Selling' Pushes KOSPI Slightly Lower in Early Trading... KOSDAQ Edges Up

The KOSPI is showing slight weakness in early trading due to selling pressure from foreign investors and institutions.

As of 9:37 a.m. on December 8, the KOSPI index was trading at 4,092.00, down 8.05 points (0.20%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 4,109.25, up 9.20 points (0.22%), but soon turned downward. Foreign investors have sold 228.2 billion won worth of shares, and institutions have sold 121.2 billion won. Individual investors have purchased 384.2 billion won worth of shares.

On the 8th, the KOSPI index opened at 4109.25, up 9.2 points from the previous trading day, displayed on the electronic board in the dealing room at the Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

Among large-cap stocks, Samsung C&T (up 5.33%), Hanwha Ocean (up 4.01%), Hanwha Aerospace (up 2.68%), Kia (up 2.51%), Celltrion (up 2.13%), and LG Energy Solution (up 2.11%) rose. In contrast, Doosan Enerbility (down 3.86%), Korea Electric Power Corporation (down 2.49%), Shinhan Financial Group (down 2.37%), KB Financial Group (down 2.07%), SK Hynix (down 1.84%), and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (down 1.12%) declined.

By sector, some industries such as retail (up 2.32%), metals (up 1.41%), and transportation equipment and parts (up 1.32%) rose. However, most sectors showed declines, including machinery and equipment (down 2.46%), insurance (down 2.27%), electricity and gas (down 2.18%), medical precision instruments (down 1.37%), telecommunications (down 1.36%), and finance (down 1.05%).

At the same time, the KOSDAQ index stood at 928.86, up 4.12 points (0.45%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 928.52, up 3.78 points (0.41%), and then slightly extended its gains. Foreign investors have bought 25 billion won worth of shares, and individual investors have bought 32.4 billion won. Institutions are net sellers of 131.6 billion won.

Among the top KOSDAQ stocks by market capitalization, EcoPro (up 10.94%), Alteogen (up 3.18%), EcoPro BM (up 3.07%), Caregen (up 1.65%), and Robotis (up 1.24%) advanced. Meanwhile, D&D Pharmatech (down 5.63%), Peptron (down 5.61%), Samchundang Pharm (down 3.01%), Aimed Bio (down 2.45%), PharmaResearch (down 2.37%), EO Technics (down 1.58%), and Voronoi (down 1.26%) declined.

Meanwhile, on December 5 (local time), the U.S. stock market saw limited gains. Although the September Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index was generally in line with market expectations and brought some relief to the market, investors remained cautious ahead of the December Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.

On the New York Stock Exchange, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 47,954.99, up 104.05 points (0.22%) from the previous session. The S&P 500, which focuses on large-cap stocks, rose 13.28 points (0.19%) to 6,870.40, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 72.99 points (0.31%) to close at 23,578.13.