Foreign and Institutional Investors Widen Sell-Off in Domestic Stock Market... KOSPI at 2420 Level

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] The domestic stock market's decline has deepened on the afternoon of the 1st, as foreigners and institutions showed a strong selling bias.

As of 1:31 PM that day, the KOSPI index was recorded at 2,423.84, down 48.21 points (1.95%) from the previous day. The index opened at 2,443.00, down 29.05 points (1.18%) from the previous session, and then widened its losses. Foreigners and institutions net sold approximately 405.8 billion KRW and 646.5 billion KRW respectively, while individuals net bought about 1.0294 trillion KRW.

By sector, all were weak. In particular, construction (-3.11%), machinery (-3.08%), textiles and apparel (-2.80%), and medical precision (-2.55%) showed notable declines.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, most fell except LG Energy Solution (0.54%). Samsung SDI and SK Hynix dropped 2.84%, followed by Kakao (-2.72%), Samsung Electronics (-2.01%), Naver (NAVER) (-1.88%), Samsung Biologics (-1.44%), LG Chem (-1.11%), Hyundai Motor (-0.77%), and Kia (-0.62%).

At the same time, the KOSDAQ index fell 13.52 points (1.68%) from the previous day to 793.52. Foreigners and institutions sold about 142.3 billion KRW and 103.4 billion KRW respectively, while individuals alone bought about 242.5 billion KRW.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, Kakao Games showed the largest drop at 4.36%. This was followed by Pearl Abyss (-4.05%), L&F (-4.03%), and Alteogen (-3.77%).

According to the 'August Export-Import Trends' announced by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy that day, last month's exports amounted to 56.67 billion USD, and imports were 66.15 billion USD. The trade balance showed a deficit of 9.47 billion USD. The trade deficit has continued for five consecutive months since April, marking the first five-month consecutive deficit in about 14 years.

This trade deficit is analyzed to have acted as a factor weakening the Korean won. The won-dollar exchange rate opened at 1,342.0 won, up 4.4 won from the previous session, and at one point rose to 1,353.4 won, surpassing the intraday high of 1,352.3 won recorded the previous day, setting a new high within a day.

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