Foreigners and Institutions 'Double Pull' Drive KOSPI Rise... IT and Game Stocks 'Strong'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] The domestic stock market continued its upward trend on the 30th, driven by simultaneous buying from institutions and foreigners amid growing expectations of a peak in U.S. inflation.

As of 10:24 a.m., the KOSPI index rose 25.32 points (0.96%) from the previous day to 2663.37. Institutions led the rally with net purchases worth 212.9 billion KRW, switching from early session selling to net buying of about 44.5 billion KRW. Individuals sold off stocks worth 260.9 billion KRW.

The rise is analyzed to have been influenced by the U.S. stock market's strength last weekend on hopes of an inflation peak. The U.S. stock market saw bargain hunting mainly in tech stocks, which had sharply fallen due to concerns over stagflation (simultaneous inflation and economic stagnation), pushing the Nasdaq index up more than 3%.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported that the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index rose 6.3% year-on-year and 0.2% month-on-month. This is lower than the 6.6% year-on-year increase in March, which was the largest in 40 years. The inflation gauge referenced by the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) slowed for the first time in a year and a half since November 2020.

In the KOSPI market, most sectors rose except for transportation and warehousing (-1.22%). Particularly, the service sector, which includes IT and gaming companies, gained more than 2%.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, NAVER is up over 3%, and Kakao is up about 2%, showing the strongest gains. Samsung Electronics (0.75%), SK Hynix (0.47%), Samsung Biologics (0.60%), and Hyundai Motor (0.81%) also followed the upward trend.

Goldman Sachs forecasted that the decline in metal raw materials would impact secondary battery-related stocks. Samsung SDI fell more than 1%, showing the only weakness among the top KOSPI stocks, while LG Energy Solution rose more than 1%.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ index traded at 883.71, up 9.74 points (1.11%) from the previous day. Institutions and foreigners bought stocks worth about 26.7 billion KRW and 1.8 billion KRW respectively, while individuals sold stocks worth 16.8 billion KRW.

Wemade's self-issued coin WEMIX showed strength in the cryptocurrency market, surging over 6%, and Kakao Games also recorded gains of more than 2%. CJ ENM rose over 3% following news that two films it distributed won awards at the Cannes Film Festival last weekend. Seo Sang-young, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "The U.S. stock market's strength amid rising expectations of an inflation 'peak-out' positively influenced the Korean stock market. Recently, buying sentiment has increased during declines caused by overselling, one of the market's hot topics. Supported by positive foreign demand due to inflation peak-out expectations and stability in the won-dollar exchange rate, the Korean stock market is showing a solid trend."

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