Increased Selling by Institutions and Foreigners... KOSPI Weakness Continues

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] The domestic stock market continued its weakness on the 6th as concerns over U.S. monetary tightening resurfaced, leading to simultaneous selling by foreigners and institutions.

As of 2:10 PM, the KOSPI index was trading at 2,736.14, down 23.06 points (0.84%) from the previous day. Foreigners sold a net 407.3 billion KRW, and institutions sold a net 443.7 billion KRW, driving the index down. Meanwhile, individuals defended the market by net buying about 846 billion KRW.

The number of declining stocks on the Korea Exchange increased to 761, more than in the morning session. The weakness was particularly notable among large-cap stocks, which widened their losses in the afternoon. This appears to be a ripple effect from the previous day’s U.S. stock market decline, centered on tech stocks, triggered by hawkish remarks from Lael Brainard, Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve. Vice Chair Brainard stated, "Balance sheet reduction will proceed at a rapid pace, possibly starting as early as May," which reignited concerns about an acceleration of the Fed’s tightening policy in the stock market.

In particular, Samsung Electronics fell to 68,500 KRW, down 1.01% from the previous day, ahead of its preliminary Q1 earnings announcement scheduled for the 7th. The sell-off by foreigners was influenced by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index’s sharp drop of over 4% the day before. SK Hynix also saw its losses widen to over 3%. Additionally, NAVER (NAVER) and Kakao were down 3.36% and 2.33%, respectively.

On the other hand, Hyundai Motor and Kia, which had shown slight weakness in the morning, rebounded, rising 1.40% and 3.66%, respectively.

By sector, insurance showed strong gains of over 2%, while transportation equipment (1.23%) and telecommunications (0.28%) also rose. Conversely, the service sector (-1.92%) recorded the largest decline, with banking and textiles/apparel also falling more than 1%.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ index fell 9.41 points (0.99%) to 943.06. Institutions sold a net 152.5 billion KRW, foreigners sold a net 98.7 billion KRW, while individuals bought a net 262.7 billion KRW.

On the KOSDAQ market, 1,031 stocks declined, while 376 stocks rose. EcoPro BM showed a 1.16% gain, and L&F was slightly up by 0.09%. WeMade rose 1.89%, marking the largest increase among the top market cap stocks on KOSDAQ. Meanwhile, Celltrion Healthcare and Celltrion Pharm showed declines around 3%.

Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, "The domestic stock market is showing stagnant price movements due to the sharp drop in the U.S. Nasdaq and cautious sentiment over the March FOMC minutes. However, compared to the U.S. market, the domestic market has shown limited downside pressure overall since mid-March, as its price recovery has not been as strong."

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