KOSPI Falls Short of Reclaiming 2700... Foreigners and Institutions Sell Early, "Only Individuals Buy"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] On the 18th, as the domestic stock market started lower, foreigners and institutions showed a 'selling' dominance from the early session, while individuals countered with 'buying.' The KOSPI, which started at the 2680 level, rose to the 2690 level but lacked the supply-demand strength to reclaim 2700.

On this day, the KOSPI opened at 2685.04, down 11.02 points (0.41%↓), and the KOSDAQ started at 921.69, down 2.75 points (0.30%↓). This is interpreted as a decline due to an unstable market environment. Afterwards, the KOSPI is attempting to narrow the decline to the 2690 level. However, the 'selling' by foreigners and institutions remains a burden.

As of 9:17 AM, foreigners sold about 47.7 billion KRW and institutions about 65.5 billion KRW in the KOSPI market. All of this volume is flowing into individuals' portfolios. Individuals showed a net buying of about 111.9 billion KRW. The KOSDAQ market is similar. While foreigners and institutions are selling about 48.5 billion KRW and 15.7 billion KRW respectively, individuals are buying about 65.2 billion KRW.

The situation is no better for Samsung Electronics, the top market cap leader in the KOSPI. As of 9:20 AM, it was trading at 66,500 KRW, down 0.15% from the previous trading day. Early in the session, it fell to 66,100 KRW, marking a new 52-week low.

Among other top market cap stocks, Samsung Biologics (-0.72%), Naver (-0.81%), Kakao (-1.05%), Hyundai Motor (-0.28%), LG Chem (-0.59%), POSCO Holdings (-1.06%), KB Financial (-0.84%), Celltrion (-0.63%), and KakaoBank (-1.84%) are showing weakness. LG Energy Solution (0.57%), Samsung SDI (0.17%), and Kia (0.26%) are showing gains.

By sector, healthcare technology (1.90%), cosmetics (1.26%), gas utilities (0.66%), independent power production & energy trading (0.61%), and specialty retail (0.59%) are on the rise. Conversely, internet & catalog retail (-1.71%), display panels (-1.54%), shipping companies (-1.23%), electronic products (-1.09%), and furniture (-1.05%) are showing weakness.

Seosangyoung, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "China's real economy indicators are being released, especially retail sales, which are expected to shrink by 3.0% year-on-year, indicating a contraction compared to last month's announcement, which burdens the domestic stock market," adding, "Changes are expected depending on the release of China's real economy indicators, solid U.S. economic data, and China's liquidity supply-related impacts."

Lee Kyung-min, a researcher at Daishin Securities, said, "China's Q1 GDP growth rate and March real indicators are inevitably weak, and hawkish Federal Reserve (Fed) officials' press conferences are scheduled, so the global financial market is likely to remain unstable this week," adding, "The market is expected to fluctuate between concerns over China's economic instability versus expectations for additional stimulus (such as interest rate cuts), expanded oil price pressure due to uncertainty over Ukraine versus concerns over China's demand, and increased oil price downward pressure due to the Fed's hawkish stance."

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