Investor Sentiment 'Frozen'... KOSPI Slips to 2920 Level

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Due to the hawkish moves by members of the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed), investor sentiment in the domestic stock market has frozen, leading the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices to start lower.

On the 10th, the KOSPI opened down 7.52 points at 2947.37 (0.25%↓), and the KOSDAQ opened down 2.67 points at 992.49 (0.27%↓). Shortly after the market opened, the KOSPI slipped to the 2920 level, while the KOSDAQ remained around the 980 level.

Looking at investor trends at this time, foreigners and individuals are both buying in the KOSPI, while institutions are selling alone. On the KOSDAQ, individuals are the sole buyers. Individuals are net buying 35.3 billion KRW and 39.9 billion KRW in the two markets respectively. Institutions are net selling 43.2 billion KRW and 9.5 billion KRW in the two markets respectively. Foreigners show a net buying preference of 8.8 billion KRW only in the KOSPI market, while they are net sellers by 29.1 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ market.

Examining the KOSPI sector status, the electric and gas industry (+0.71%) stands out with a strong start, along with sectors such as paper and wood (+0.67%) and food and beverages (+0.36%) showing upward trends. Conversely, non-metallic minerals (-0.84%) and electrical and electronics (-0.64%) sectors are relatively down.

Additionally, sectors such as steel and metals (+0.31%), finance (+0.23%), and transportation and warehousing (+0.16%) are rising together, while telecommunications (-0.29%), services (-0.21%), and chemicals (-0.19%) are declining together.

Looking at the KOSDAQ sector status, the electric, gas, and water sector (+6.16%) shows a notable rise at the start, along with agriculture and forestry (+0.71%) and distribution (+0.43%) sectors showing upward trends. Meanwhile, mining (0.00%) and entertainment and culture (-1.02%) sectors are declining.

Other sectors such as education services (+0.38%), construction (+0.22%), and lodging and food services (+0.15%) are rising together, while IT S/W & SVC (-0.65%), IT H/W (-0.63%), and other services (-0.43%) are declining together.

Yumi Kim, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, explained, "This week in the financial market, attention will increase on U.S. inflation and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy moves. Since the release of the December Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes confirmed the Fed's intention to normalize monetary policy more quickly, sensitivity in the financial market to inflation indicators and Fed members' remarks may be heightened."

Byunghyun Cho, a researcher at Yuanta Securities, said, "With the release of the December FOMC minutes, concerns are intensifying over the Fed's more radical monetary policy and a tightening stance beyond normalization. At least at this point, the policy direction is confirmed, but uncertainty about the intensity and speed is significantly expanding, and until the path can be gauged, there is a possibility that this will act as a volatility-inducing factor."

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