KOSPI Closes Higher on Foreign and Institutional Buying
KOSDAQ Also Ends with Modest Gains
On December 26, the KOSPI closed higher, recovering the 4,120 level, driven by strong performance in the semiconductor sector. The KOSDAQ also finished with slight gains, successfully reversing its downward trend after three trading days.
On this day, the KOSPI ended trading at 4,129.68, up 0.51% from the previous session. The index started at 4,130.37, up 0.53% from the previous day, and climbed as high as 4,143.14 during the session, but gave up some of its gains toward the end of trading.
Foreign investors and institutions led the index higher by purchasing 1.7763 trillion won and 388 billion won, respectively. In contrast, individuals sold a total of 2.2104 trillion won.
The main driver of the index's rise was the semiconductor sector. Overnight, Micron surged more than 3% on the New York Stock Exchange, and this momentum spread to the domestic market. The electrical and electronics sector rose 2.77% from the previous day, marking the steepest increase among all sectors. Foreign and institutional net purchases in the electrical and electronics sector amounted to approximately 1.7 trillion won and 400 billion won, respectively. Samsung Electronics, Korea's leading semiconductor stock, jumped 5.31% to close at 117,000 won, setting a new 52-week high. SK Hynix also rose 1.87% to finish at 599,000 won.
Among other sectors, only manufacturing (up 1.17%), electricity and gas (up 0.49%), and real estate (up 0.21%) recorded gains. The remaining sectors, including entertainment and culture (down 2.25%), chemicals (down 1.85%), general services (down 1.82%), construction (down 1.76%), IT services (down 1.72%), metals (down 1.65%), and textiles and apparel (down 1.62%), all declined.
Among the top 10 stocks by market capitalization, only Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Samsung Biologics (up 0.06%) ended higher. LG Energy Solution (down 1.79%), Hyundai Motor (down 1.04%), HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (down 1.35%), KB Financial Group (down 1.19%), Doosan Enerbility (down 3.03%), and Kia (down 0.99%) all closed lower.
The KOSDAQ finished at 919.67, up 0.49% from the previous session. The index opened at 920.90, up 0.62% from the previous day, but turned downward during the session, dropping to as low as 913.85 before rebounding and widening its gains.
Foreign investors and institutions recorded net purchases of 94.9 billion won and 346.8 billion won, respectively, while individuals sold 437 billion won, resulting in a balanced market.
By sector, general services (up 2.60%), machinery and equipment (up 0.79%), non-metallic minerals (up 0.73%), chemicals (up 0.65%), pharmaceuticals (up 0.61%), electrical and electronics (up 0.46%), and manufacturing (up 0.41%) all posted gains. In contrast, textiles and apparel (down 2.20%), entertainment and culture (down 1.97%), transportation equipment and parts (down 1.66%), construction (down 1.43%), paper and wood (down 1.38%), transportation and storage (down 1.33%), and telecommunications (down 1.20%) closed lower.
Among the top KOSDAQ stocks by market capitalization, bio stocks such as Alteogen (up 2.09%), ABL Bio (up 6.13%), LegoChem Biosciences (up 4.35%), Kolon TissueGene (up 1.90%), and Samchundang Pharm (up 1.61%) showed strong performance. EcoPro BM (down 0.89%), EcoPro (down 0.31%), Rainbow Robotics (down 1.87%), and HLB (down 1.07%) all ended lower.
KB Securities researchers Lim Jeongeun and Tae Yunseon commented, "A wait-and-see attitude is likely to continue amid low trading volume," but added, "With customer deposits, which represent stock market funds on standby, remaining at a high level of around 80 trillion won, there is still ample room for further gains in the domestic stock market."
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