Domestic Stock Market Calms in the Afternoon... KOSPI Still Below 3000 Mark

US Pharmaceutical Company Merck Develops Oral COVID-19 Treatment...Pharmaceutical Sector Index Drops 6%

The KOSPI fell below the 3,000 mark on the 5th, shown here at the Hana Bank dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul. On this day, the KOSPI index opened at 2,998.17, down 21.01 points (0.70%) from the previous session. This is the first time the KOSPI has fallen below 3,000 since March 25, six months and ten days ago. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The KOSPI and KOSDAQ, which had been falling, showed signs of stabilization in the afternoon. However, the KOSPI still failed to recover the 3000-point mark.

As of 1:50 PM on the 5th, the KOSPI recorded 2967.33, down 1.72% (51.85 points) from the previous day. It had dropped to 2940.59 at 10:34 AM that day.

Foreigners' selling pressure was strong. Foreigners net sold 479.5 billion KRW. Individuals and foreigners net bought 356.1 billion KRW and 114.9 billion KRW, respectively.

Most sectors declined. The pharmaceutical sector had the largest drop at 6.13%. This was due to the negative impact of the US pharmaceutical company Merck's announcement verifying the efficacy of its oral COVID-19 treatment. This was followed by banks (-5.75%), paper and wood (-2.30%), services (-2.19%), and electrical and electronics (-2.06%). Sectors that rose included textiles and apparel (1.65%), distribution (0.59%), food and beverage (0.52%), construction (0.41%), and medical precision (0.28%).

All of the top 10 market capitalization stocks except Hyundai Motor showed weakness. Celltrion had the largest decline at 8.67%. This was followed by Samsung Biologics (-5.83%), Samsung SDI (-4.53%), Kakao (-4.29%), LG Chem (-3.64%), NAVER (-2.62%), SK Hynix (-2.30%), Samsung Electronics (-1.78%), and Kia (-0.26%). Hyundai Motor rose 0.26%.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ recorded 963.81, down 1.97% (19.39 points) from the previous day. The KOSDAQ had fallen to 950.09 at 10:32 AM that day.

Individuals' selling pressure led to the index decline. Individuals net sold 97.9 billion KRW. Foreigners and institutions net bought 15.7 billion KRW and 93.5 billion KRW, respectively.

Almost all sectors declined. The distribution sector had the largest drop at 4.97%, followed by pharmaceuticals (-4.17%), transportation (-3.15%), information devices (-3.02%), and other services (-2.84%). Sectors that rose included digital content (2.73%), entertainment and culture (2.42%), paper and wood (0.75%), broadcasting services (0.50%), and IT software & services (0.35%).

Many of the top 10 market capitalization stocks showed weakness. Celltrion Healthcare had the largest decline at 8.01%, followed by Celltrion Pharm (-6.14%), HL Biotech (-3.78%), EcoPro BM (-1.53%), Kakao Games (-1.08%), and Alteogen (-0.42%). CJ ENM (2.27%), Pearl Abyss (1.99%), L&F (1.59%), and SK Materials (0.25%) rose.

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