Russia Accepts US Meeting Proposal, KOSPI Decline Narrows

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] As the KOSDAQ turned to an upward trend, the KOSPI is also narrowing its losses. This is presumed to be due to news that the Russian Foreign Minister and the U.S. Secretary of State will hold talks in the latter half of next week.

At 11:04 a.m. on the 18th, the KOSPI was at 2,743.05, down 0.04% (1.04 points) from the previous trading day. The KOSPI initially fell more than 1% to 2,711.88 early in the session but later rose to 2,745.37 points during the day, showing an upward trend.

It is presumed that this follows news that U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold face-to-face talks in Europe in the latter half of next week. According to Bloomberg, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said the U.S. accepted the schedule on the premise that Russia will no longer invade Ukraine.

The narrowing of the KOSPI's losses is analyzed to be due to institutions reducing their net selling volume. According to investment trends, institutions are currently selling stocks worth 15.7 billion KRW, reducing their selling scale. Individuals alone bought stocks worth 169.4 billion KRW. However, there is little change in foreign investors' supply and demand. Foreigners net sold stocks worth 154.3 billion KRW in the cash market and also sold stocks worth 114 billion KRW in the futures market.

Accordingly, some of the top market capitalization stocks turned to an upward trend. Kakao (0.77%), Hyundai Motor (0.27%), and Samsung SDI (0.36%) are showing gains. Samsung Electronics (-0.8%), SK Hynix (-0.75%), NAVER (-1.69%), and LG Chem (-0.16%) declined.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ index is also showing an upward trend. The KOSDAQ index is at 878.86, up 0.54% (4.64 points) from the previous trading day. The KOSDAQ index fell to the 869 level during the session, widening its losses, but soon showed a rise of over 0.8%, climbing to the 880 level.

The upward turn is presumed to be due to a reduction in foreign investors' net selling volume. Foreigners are currently net selling stocks worth 30 billion KRW, and institutions sold stocks worth 47.6 billion KRW. Individuals alone net bought about 82 billion KRW.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, EcoPro BM (0.09%), Kakao Games (1.99%), Wemade (1.11%), and CJ ENM (2.85%) are increasing their gains. On the other hand, Celltrion Healthcare (-2.06%), L&F (-1.41%), and Pearl Abyss (-0.83%) declined.

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