KOSPI Starts Slightly Lower at 2114

KOSDAQ Also Starts Lower... Continued Concerns Over COVID-19 Second Wave
Bio Stocks Rally Again... Samsung Biologics Hits New High Once More

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[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ opened slightly lower.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 15th, the KOSPI opened at 2,114.41, down 0.84% (17.89 points) from the previous trading day. It then slightly rebounded to 2,120.19 as of 9:12 a.m. The investment sentiment is subdued due to concerns over a second wave of COVID-19 infections centered in the United States.

In the securities market, individual investors were net buyers of 274.2 billion KRW, while foreigners and institutions were net sellers of 109.6 billion KRW and 169.7 billion KRW, respectively.

Most sectors were in decline. The transportation equipment sector had the largest drop at 2.06%. This was followed by textiles and apparel (-1.96%), steel and metals (-1.62%), electrical and electronics (-1.42%), and non-metallic minerals (-1.31%). On the other hand, pharmaceuticals (2.68%), distribution (0.76%), and paper and wood (0.75%) rose.

Among the top 10 market capitalization stocks, most were down, but bio-related stocks showed an upward trend. Samsung Biologics rose the most at 5.4%. Early in the session, it hit a new high of 863,000 KRW, up 7.2% from the previous day. SK also rose due to the listing issue of its subsidiary SK Biopharm. It rose 7.1% from the previous close, ranking 10th in market capitalization. Kakao rose 0.3%. Other sectors mostly declined. LG Chem had the largest drop at 2.4%, followed by Samsung Electronics (-1.7%), SK Hynix (-1.5%), Hyundai Motor (-1.4%), NAVER (-1.0%), and Celltrion (-0.8%).

The KOSDAQ also opened lower. It started at 745.60, down 0.06% (0.46 points) from the previous close, then slightly rebounded to 746.35, up 0.04%.

In the KOSDAQ market, individual investors were the sole buyers, net purchasing 59.7 billion KRW, while foreigners and institutions were net sellers of 37.8 billion KRW and 21.3 billion KRW, respectively.

Most sectors were down. General electronics had the largest drop at 1.74%, followed by semiconductors (-1.56%), IT hardware (-1.26%), non-metallics (-1.23%), and metals (-1.15%). Pharmaceuticals (1.13%) and transportation equipment and parts (0.97%) rose.

Among the top 10 market capitalization stocks, Seegene had the largest increase at 3.3%, followed by HL Biopharma (2.4%) and Celltrion Pharm (0.4%). Meanwhile, EcoPro BM (-2.8%), KMW (-1.6%), and Pearl Abyss (-1.3%) declined.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.