Mixed Close in Domestic Stock Market Focused Only on US Inflation... Earnings Season

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[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] On the 10th, the domestic stock market closed with mixed results. The KOSPI market showed a firm upward trend as foreign investors increased their futures purchases on the options expiration day, with significant gains centered on stocks reporting strong earnings. However, with the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) announcement looming, caution spread, putting pressure on the market and causing the KOSDAQ index to fall below the 900 mark again.

The KOSPI index closed at 2,771.93, up 3.08 points (0.11%) from the previous day. The index started with a 0.67% rise but reversed to a decline during the session due to institutional selling pressure. Nevertheless, foreign investors accumulated large-cap stocks, maintaining a slight upward trend.

Foreign investors net purchased 835.5 billion KRW worth of shares in the KOSPI market that day. In contrast, institutions net sold 539.5 billion KRW, and individuals also joined the selling with net sales of 310.4 billion KRW.

LG Energy Solution fell more than 7%, marking three consecutive days of weakness, while LG Chem rebounded after four trading days, closing sharply up 8.36%. Amorepacific surged over 9% following a surprise earnings announcement.

Samsung Electronics (0.94%) and SK Hynix (2.78%) continued their upward momentum amid expectations of semiconductor industry improvement, with most of the top market capitalization stocks, excluding LG Energy Solution, showing strength.

Park Seok-hwan, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "The expansion of foreign investors' futures purchases on the options expiration day and the strength of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix positively influenced the KOSPI rise. However, the cautious stance ahead of the U.S. Consumer Price Index limited the gains." He added, "The NAND flash factory jointly operated by Western Digital in the U.S. and Kioxia in Japan has halted operations. Due to contamination of key materials, the future NAND supply and demand is expected to be affected, which is anticipated to benefit SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics."

The KOSDAQ market recorded a decline of 14.85 points (1.63%) to 895.68. The index fell below 900 again just one day after briefly recovering above 900. Wemade plunged 28.89% amid analyses that last year's earnings were at a shockingly low level, with selling pressure concentrated on stocks with poor performance.

Individuals defended the index by net buying 450.6 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ market, but foreign investors and institutions net sold 273 billion KRW and 186.6 billion KRW respectively, pulling the index down by more than 1%. Top gaming stocks such as Kakao Games (-5.92%) and Pearl Abyss (-2.63%) also fell sharply. Jeju Beer, which announced a beer price increase, along with Embrain and U& I, closed at the daily upper limit in the KOSDAQ market.

Researcher Park said, "Excluding the liquidity event of WEMIX, Wemade's fourth-quarter earnings showed a shock in the core gaming business, dampening overall investor sentiment in gaming-related stocks."

Jung Yong-taek, head of the investment strategy team at IBK Investment & Securities, said, "The market rose slightly early in the session due to the drop in the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield. However, with the recent earnings season showing poor results from domestic companies and lingering uncertainties, the market has not been able to mount a strong rebound."

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