Effect of US Infrastructure Investment Plan... KOSPI Starts Up at 3073

Semiconductor, Secondary Battery, and Other Sectors Show Strength
KOSDAQ Slightly Hesitates

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[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] The KOSPI is showing an early upward trend and is challenging the 3100 level. This is interpreted as a spillover effect from the rise in tech stocks following the U.S. government's announcement of an infrastructure investment plan.

On the 1st, the KOSPI opened at 3,073.77, up 0.40% (12.35 points) from the previous day. It continued its early morning rise, reaching 3,083.82 as of 9:22 a.m. Recently, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield, which had surged and triggered profit-taking in growth stocks, stabilized at around 1.73%. As tech and growth stocks showed strength in the U.S. market, the impact appears to have extended to the domestic market as well.

Foreigners and institutions are showing strong buying momentum, with net purchases of 151.4 billion KRW and 2.3 billion KRW respectively. Conversely, individuals sold off 177.4 billion KRW net.

Many sectors rose. The electrical and electronics sector posted the largest gain at 2.10%. This was followed by electric and gas utilities (1.981%), chemicals (1.56%), securities (1.30%), and medical precision instruments (1.27%). On the other hand, transportation and warehousing (-1.47%), steel and metals (-1.44%), and pharmaceuticals (-0.66%) declined.

Among the top 10 market capitalization stocks, more sectors showed gains. SK Hynix rose the most at 4.15%, followed by Hyundai Motor (2.06%), Samsung SDI (1.97%), Samsung Electronics (1.72%), LG Chem (1.24%), and Kia Motors (1.21%). Meanwhile, Celltrion (-2.00%), NAVER (-0.93%), Kakao (-0.80%), and Samsung Biologics (-0.27%) fell.

The KOSDAQ opened slightly higher at 856.87, up 0.07% (0.70 points) from the previous day. However, unlike the KOSPI, its upward momentum appears somewhat weak. As of 9:22 a.m., it was slightly down to 955.11 compared to the opening.

Unlike the KOSPI market, foreigners and institutions in the KOSDAQ market net sold 34.1 billion KRW and 16.8 billion KRW respectively. Individuals net bought 54.6 billion KRW.

Sectors such as finance (3.03%), telecommunication services (1.48%), and paper and wood products (1.06%) rose, while distribution (-1.49%), non-metallic minerals (-1.40%), and textiles and apparel (-1.35%) declined.

Among the top 10 market capitalization stocks, more showed declines. HLB had the largest drop at -4.34%, followed by Celltrion Healthcare (-2.35%), Kakao Games (-1.53%), Celltrion Pharm (-1.40%), Studio Dragon (-1.20%), and Seegene (-0.46%). On the other hand, Pearl Abyss (2.50%), EcoPro BM (1.78%), and SK Materials (0.10%) rose.

Meanwhile, on the 31st of last month (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq index closed up 1.54% at 13,246.87. The S&P 500 index also rose 0.36% to 3,972.89. In contrast, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.26% to 32,981.55. Yumi Kim, an economist at Kiwoom Securities, interpreted, "As the Biden administration's infrastructure investment plan was announced at a level meeting expectations, funds shifted from recently strong cyclical sectors to tech and growth stocks, which had been sluggish recently, under the pretext of quarter-end rebalancing (portfolio adjustment) demand."

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