KOSPI Starts Higher... Inflow of Net Foreign Buying

On the 26th, the KOSPI opened at 3,151.30, up 4.49 points (0.14%) from the previous trading day, at the Hana Bank dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul. On the same day, the won-dollar exchange rate opened at 1,165.0 won, down 3.1 won from the previous trading day. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] On the 3rd, the KOSPI opened higher following the positive trend in the U.S. stock market.

As of 9:15 a.m. that day, the KOSPI was at 3,193.24, up 17.39 points (0.55%) from the previous trading day. The market opened about 0.25% higher and gradually increased its gains.

Foreign investors' net buying has been notable since the beginning of this month, and on this day, foreigners were buying stocks from the early hours of trading. At this time, foreigners were net buyers of 16.5 billion KRW, and individuals were also net buyers of 44.6 billion KRW. Conversely, institutions were net sellers of 59.4 billion KRW. Among all listed stocks, 503 were rising while 387 were falling.

Most of the top market capitalization stocks were on the rise. Samsung Electronics, the leader in semiconductors and the largest by market cap in Korea, was trading up 0.79% at 76,600 KRW, and SK Hynix also rose 0.94% to 107,500 KRW.

NAVER, a representative company in the internet sector, was trading up 0.45% at 444,500 KRW, and Kakao rose 0.97% to 156,500 KRW.

The KOSDAQ also opened higher. It started at 1,049.81, up 2.62 points (0.25%) from the previous close, and as of this time, it was at 1,050.81, up 3.29 points (0.31%). Individuals were net buyers of 56.7 billion KRW, driving the index higher, while foreigners and institutions were net sellers of 39.6 billion KRW and 15.3 billion KRW, respectively.

Among the top market cap stocks, Celltrion Healthcare was up 0.17% at 120,300 KRW, and EcoPro BM rose 1.21% to 300,700 KRW. On the other hand, HL Biopharma fell 2.64%, and L&F declined 1.09%.

Kiwoom Securities analyst Ji-young Han said, "Despite some technical buying following nearly a 1% drop in the previous trading day, the overall intraday trend in the Korean stock market is expected to be cautious." She explained, "Although the U.S. stock market was strong the previous day and the won/dollar exchange rate is expected to decline as confirmed through offshore markets, uncertainty over the U.S. employment data released after the market close is likely to increase market participants' cautious sentiment during the trading day." However, she added, "Since risk appetite still remains in the domestic market, it is expected that rather than all sectors entering a cautious phase, there will be differentiated stock price movements among sectors."

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