KOSPI Closes Up Nearly 1% on Institutional Buying... Recovers to 2620 Level

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Myung-Hwan Lee] On the 17th, the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices closed with nearly 1% gains. While individual investors sold nearly 370 billion KRW across the two markets, institutions drove the indices up by net buying over 500 billion KRW.

The KOSPI closed at 2,620.44, up 0.92% (23.86 points) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 2,603.58, up 0.27% (7.00 points), and gradually increased its gains throughout the day. By investor type, individuals and foreigners net sold 304.8 billion KRW and 157.8 billion KRW respectively, while institutions alone purchased 462.1 billion KRW.

Among the top 10 KOSPI market capitalization stocks, most closed higher. Samsung Electronics, the largest market cap stock, ended at 67,600 KRW, up 1.96% (1,300 KRW) from the previous day, returning above the 67,000 KRW level. LG Energy Solution also closed at 408,500 KRW, up 2% (8,000 KRW). Other gainers included ▲SK Hynix (1.81%) ▲Samsung Electronics Preferred (1.87%) ▲Naver (0.73%) ▲Samsung SDI (0.68%) ▲Hyundai Motor (0.82%) ▲Kakao (1.09%). Samsung Biologics (-0.52%) and LG Chem (-0.39%) declined.

By sector, banks (2.30%), medical precision (2.01%), electrical and electronics (1.76%), and steel and metals (1.26%) closed higher. Conversely, reopening sectors such as food and beverages (-1.57%) and textiles and apparel (-0.71%) declined.

Seok-Hwan Kim, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, commented on the KOSPI market, stating, "Foreign and institutional buying inflows in the electrical and electronics sectors, including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, led to a strong performance."

The KOSDAQ index closed at 865.98, up 1.14% (9.73 points) from the previous day. It opened at 857.28, up 0.12% (1.03 points), remained flat for a while, and then gradually increased gains in the afternoon session. By investor type, individuals and foreigners net sold 71.1 billion KRW and 0.7 billion KRW respectively, while institutions were the sole net buyers with 73.3 billion KRW.

Among the top 10 KOSDAQ market cap stocks, all but two rose. Cheonbo showed a strong gain, closing at 274,000 KRW, up 6% (15,300 KRW) from the previous day. Other gainers included ▲EcoPro BM (4.45%) ▲Celltrion Healthcare (2.04%) ▲L&F (3.07%) ▲HLB (3.16%) ▲Kakao Games (2.36%) ▲Pearl Abyss (3.30%) ▲Celltrion Pharm (3.05%). Rino Industrial (-0.12%) and Studio Dragon (-1.14%) declined.

By sector on KOSDAQ, general electrical and electronics (2.69%), chemicals (2.25%), IT components (2.24%), and digital content (1.77%) rose. Textiles and apparel (-2.50%) and food, beverages, and tobacco (-2.41%) declined.

Researcher Kim noted on the KOSDAQ market, "The index was driven up mainly by the secondary battery sector and most of the top market cap stocks rising. The entertainment sector showed strength, reflecting strong first-quarter earnings from major companies such as SM and Cube Entertainment."

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