KOSPI Morning Uptrend Continues Amid Institutional Net Buying Pressure

On the 18th, a ceremony commemorating the new KOSPI listing of SK Bioscience, a vaccine development and manufacturing company, was held at the Korea Exchange in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. From the left: Song Young-hoon, Deputy General Manager of the Korea Exchange KOSPI Market Division; Ahn Sang-hwan, Chairman of the Korea IR Council; Cho Woong-ki, CEO of Mirae Asset Daewoo; Lim Jae-jun, General Manager of the Korea Exchange KOSPI Market Division; Son Byung-doo, Chairman of the Korea Exchange; Ahn Jae-yong, CEO of SK Bioscience Co., Ltd.; Park Chan-joong, President of SK Discovery; Jung Il-moon, CEO of Korea Investment & Securities; Yoon Byung-woon, Head of IB1 Division at NH Investment & Securities; Kim Young-kyun, Executive Director of the Listed Companies Association. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Institutional investors are increasing their net buying, leading the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices to continue their upward trend. This is analyzed as an improvement in investment sentiment toward risk assets following the Federal Reserve's (Fed) firm commitment to 'zero interest rates.'

KOSPI rises over 1% in early trading... SK Bioscience achieves 'Ttah-sang' success

At 10:20 a.m. on the 18th, the KOSPI stood at 3,076.18, up 0.95% (28.68 points) from the previous trading day. The KOSPI opened at 3,054.93, up 0.24% (7.43 points) from the previous day, maintaining its upward momentum. Looking at investor trends, institutions and foreigners bought stocks worth 424.8 billion KRW and 44.3 billion KRW respectively, while individuals sold stocks worth 451.6 billion KRW alone.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, most showed gains. Samsung Electronics (1.09%), SK Hynix (2.14%), NAVER (3.39%), LG Chem (0.47%), Hyundai Motor (1.51%), Samsung Biologics (1.67%), and Kakao (1.55%) all rose.

SK Bioscience, which was listed on the stock market today, recorded a so-called ‘Ttah-sang’ by opening at 130,000 KRW, double the public offering price of 65,000 KRW, and then hitting the upper price limit. SK Bioscience attracted about 64 trillion KRW in subscription deposits during the general public offering on the 9th and 10th, the largest IPO subscription deposit ever. As of now, it ranks 29th in market capitalization with 13 trillion KRW.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ index stood at 951.18, up 0.78% (7.40 points) from the previous trading day. The KOSDAQ opened at 945.11, up 0.14% (1.33 points) from the previous day, maintaining its upward trend. Investor trends show institutions and individuals bought stocks worth 12.1 billion KRW and 1.4 billion KRW respectively, while foreigners sold stocks worth 15.1 billion KRW alone.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, most were on the rise except for Seegene (-0.89%). Celltrion Healthcare (1.27%), Celltrion Pharm (1.00%), Alteogen (1.30%), and Kakao Games (0.39%) also increased.

Powell soothes the market... S&P 500 and Dow hit record highs, KOSPI rises

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The New York stock market recorded all-time highs influenced by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting results, which were favorable to the stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index rose about 0.58% and 0.3%, respectively. Experts emphasized that the domestic stock market could show an upward trend influenced by the U.S. stock market.

Sangyoung Seo, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, “Fed Chair Powell’s statement that no preemptive action will be taken based solely on expectations regarding the tapering timeline is positive for the stock market,” adding, “U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen’s mention of the importance of the Korea-U.S. currency swap increases the possibility of financial market stability, which will be positive for foreign investor demand.”

Experts expect that while the stock market has so far moved based on interest rate influences, it will shift to a rally driven by economic recovery related to corporate earnings improvement. Kyungmin Lee, a researcher at Daishin Securities, explained, “Sectors leading economic growth and corporate earnings improvement will continue the upward trend in the global stock market,” adding, “It is appropriate to increase weights in the internet and secondary battery sectors, which surpassed historic maximum profits last year, as well as the semiconductor and automobile sectors, expected to exceed historic maximum profits this year and next.”

In the short term, additional gains in cyclical sectors and financial stocks are also expected. However, Lee noted, “When concerns about inflation ease, the relative strength compared to the KOSPI may calm down.”

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