Mixed Trends in Profit-Taking Ahead of Seollal Holiday... KOSPI Battles Around 3100 Level

Dealers are working at the Hana Bank dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 4th, following the Financial Services Commission's announcement to resume short selling only for KOSPI 200 and KOSDAQ 150 index components starting May 3. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] On the 9th, the stock market showed mixed trends. Ahead of the Seollal holiday, individual investors who realized profits faced institutional investors who bought shares reflecting earnings expectations, but the KOSPI index is engaged in fierce battles around the 3100 level. The KOSDAQ index fluctuated around the previous day's closing level of 960 in the afternoon.

As of 1:51 PM, the KOSPI recorded 3100.12, up 9.35 points (0.29%) from the previous day. While individuals sold a net amount of 220.4 billion KRW, institutions bought 221.2 billion KRW. Foreign investors joined the net buying trend in the early session but turned to net selling of about 15 billion KRW in the afternoon.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, all except Celltrion showed slight gains. LG Chem rose 0.91% from the previous day, approaching 1 million KRW (999,000 KRW) again. Hyundai Motor and Kia, which sharply dropped the previous day due to news of halting cooperation on Apple Car, rose 1.71% and 0.81%, respectively. LG Electronics jumped 5.1% from the previous day.

These large-cap stocks were driven up by foreign investors today. Among foreign investors' net purchases on the KOSPI, Samsung Electronics ranked first with 79.6 billion KRW, and SK Hynix and SK Innovation also bought over 30 billion KRW each. On the other hand, Korean Air (18.9 billion KRW), Hyundai Mobis (6.3 billion KRW), and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (5.2 billion KRW) were the largest net selling stocks by foreigners.

The KOSDAQ index recorded 956.98, down 0.77 points (0.08%) from the previous day. The KOSDAQ started trading with a slight rise but briefly fell below 960 in the early session and continued to fluctuate. Individuals bought a net amount of 75.4 billion KRW, while foreigners and institutions sold net amounts of 5.3 billion KRW and 50.2 billion KRW, respectively.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, most are declining except for biosimilar company Alteogen. Due to the impact of a fine imposed on Seegene for 'inflating sales,' Celltrion Healthcare (down 1.16%) and Celltrion Pharm (down 1.75%) fell. Foreign investors are net selling the most Celltrion Pharm (660.7 billion KRW), F&F (472.2 billion KRW), and Celltrion Healthcare (377.5 billion KRW).

Kim Yong-gu, Chief Researcher at Hana Financial Investment, analyzed, "This year, families are not gathering for the Seollal holiday, but since the holiday is long, there is considerable caution toward the U.S. stock market, so profit-taking of previous gains is occurring ahead of the Seollal holiday." He added, "Since global earnings are generally good, not only IT and automobiles but also materials and energy can be strong inflow momentum."

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