Due to US Tapering Concerns... KOSPI Falls to the 3120s

KOSDAQ Falls Over 1%... Drops to the 1000 Level

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] The KOSPI, which had briefly rebounded to just below the 3160 level in the morning, is showing a downward trend again. The indication of tapering (reduction of asset purchases) by the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) seems to be acting as a burden.

As of 11:31 a.m. on the 19th, the KOSPI recorded 3125.74, down 1.05% from the previous day. After a slightly weak start at 3140.01, it rebounded to 3158.00 around 9:50 a.m., but the mood quickly turned downward again.

Park Kwangnam, head of the Digital Research Team at Mirae Asset Securities, explained, "The Fed’s indication of tapering this year through the release of the July Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes appears to have acted as a burden. Since the U.S. stock market also fell by about 1%, our market was affected as well."

However, he predicted that the continuous selling by foreigners would ease. Park said, "Foreign investors, who had been withdrawing large amounts of funds, are now reducing their net selling. Since the domestic market does not show any particularly worsening factors compared to other emerging markets, it seems they judged there is no practical benefit in further selling."

In fact, foreigners have consistently net sold in the KOSPI market for six trading days from the 10th to the previous day. The total net selling amount during this period reached 7.506 trillion won. However, the daily net selling amount has been gradually decreasing. After net selling 637.3 billion won on the 10th, they showed trillion-won scale sales on the 11th (1.6134 trillion won), 12th (1.8823 trillion won), and 13th (2.6926 trillion won), but the scale gradually shrank to 420.9 billion won on the 17th and 259.4 billion won on the 18th.

As of 11:31 a.m. on the day, foreigners and institutions net sold 212.3 billion won and 462.6 billion won respectively, while individuals net bought 718 billion won.

Most sectors are in decline. The order was machinery (-3.22%), construction (-3.19%), transportation and warehousing (-2.87%), steel and metals (-2.66%). Banks (5.41%) and pharmaceuticals (0.60%) rose.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ also fell 1.26% to 1008.29. After a slightly weak start, it rose to 1022.77 at 10:25 a.m. but is falling again.

In the KOSDAQ market, foreigners and institutions sold 127.5 billion won and 93.8 billion won respectively. Individuals net bought 230.9 billion won.

Almost all sectors are declining. The order was broadcasting services (-3.33%), telecommunications and broadcasting services (-3.16%), non-metallic minerals (-2.62%), telecommunications services (-2.58%). Only digital content (1.54%) and publishing and media reproduction (0.19%) rose.

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