'Individuals + Institutions Battle' Struggling to Recover KOSPI 'Narrowing Decline'... Foreigners Invest 530 Billion Won

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] The shock of 'Black Friday' caused by the overnight plunge in the New York stock market has been fully transmitted to the domestic market, with the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices hitting their lowest levels of the year but showing efforts to reduce losses in the afternoon session.

At 1:30 PM on the 17th, the KOSPI was trading down 0.64% at 2435.75. The KOSPI opened at 2409.72, down 41.69 points (1.70%) from the previous session. It fell below 2400 shortly after the opening, dropping to as low as 2396.47. The intraday break below 2400 is the first in 1 year and 7 months since November 5, 2020 (2370.85). However, in the afternoon, the index is recovering losses supported by net buying from individuals and institutions.

The KOSDAQ started the session below the 800 mark, down 14.18 points (1.77%) at 787.97. The intraday drop to the 780 level is the first in 1 year and 8 months. Although the losses have slightly narrowed in the afternoon, it is still hovering below 800. As of now, it is down 0.99% at 794.21.

Individuals are supporting the index recovery by purchasing 169.2 billion KRW and 94.6 billion KRW in the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets, respectively. Institutions are also buying about 301.4 billion KRW in the KOSPI market. On the other hand, foreigners are net selling about 529 billion KRW in the KOSPI market.

Top market capitalization stocks are uniformly weak. Samsung Electronics' stock price has fallen below 60,000 KRW. It started trading at 59,400 KRW, down 2.46% for the day. Although the decline has slightly narrowed, it is still hovering below 60,000 KRW. This is also the first time in about 1 year and 7 months that Samsung Electronics' stock price has fallen below 60,000 KRW intraday. Securities firms are collectively lowering their target prices for Samsung Electronics, stating that it cannot be free from concerns over earnings deterioration due to tightening monetary policy. Earlier on the 13th, Sangsangin Securities lowered Samsung Electronics' target price to 74,000 KRW and projected a downside support level of 57,000 KRW.

Seo Sang-young, Head of Media Content at Mirae Asset Securities, analyzed, "Although the possibility of an immediate economic recession is limited globally, it is true that the demand slowdown caused by interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and other central banks has increased the likelihood of a recession." He added, "If global stock markets decline due to recession concerns, it will be a burden on the Korean stock market, which is highly dependent on exports."

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