KOSPI Ends December's First Day Lower Due to Foreign Selling... KOSDAQ Also Down 1.1%

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji-hwan Park] On the 10th, the KOSPI closed lower for the first time in December. Concerns over the spread of the Omicron virus and caution regarding the U.S. inflation data release negatively affected investor sentiment.

On that day, the KOSPI closed at 3,010.23, down 19.34 points (-0.64%) from the previous trading day. The index started lower at 3,008.70 compared to the previous day’s close of 3,029.57 and even briefly fell below the 3,000 mark.

Seok-hwan Kim, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "The domestic stock market followed the decline in the U.S. market due to concerns about the high transmissibility of Omicron. Additionally, caution ahead of the U.S. inflation data release contributed to the KOSPI’s first decline this month."

By investor type, individuals and institutions defended the index by net buying 120 billion KRW and 131.7 billion KRW respectively. In contrast, foreign investors were the sole net sellers with 281.3 billion KRW.

Among the top 10 stocks by market capitalization, most showed weakness. Samsung Electronics (-1.66%), Samsung Biologics (-1.64%), SK Hynix (-2.43%), and NAVER (-1.13%) declined. Meanwhile, Kia (1.55%), Hyundai Motor (0.24%), and Samsung SDI (0.14%) closed higher.

The KOSDAQ closed at 1,011.57, down 11.30 points (-1.10%) from the previous day.

By investor type, individuals were the sole net buyers with 627.5 billion KRW. Foreigners and institutions were net sellers with 292.3 billion KRW and 319.3 billion KRW respectively.

Among the top 10 stocks by market capitalization, weakness was evident in secondary battery-related stocks. This appears to be influenced by Tesla’s decline in the U.S. market overnight due to valuation concerns. Celltrion Healthcare (-1.67%), EcoPro BM (-4.73%), Pearl Abyss (-4.88%), L&F (-4.72%), Kakao Games (-3.91%), and Wemade (-3.77%) declined. SK Materials and Alteogen closed flat.

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