Due to FOMC Caution, KOSPI Falls Below 2360 for the First Time in Over 2 Months... Secondary Battery Stocks Plunge

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Myunghwan Lee] On the 19th, the KOSPI closed down over 1%, falling below the 2360 level. This appears to be due to investors’ heightened caution ahead of this week’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. Secondary battery-related stocks saw major declines of over 5%, driven by foreign investors’ selling and profit-taking demand.

On the day, the KOSPI closed at 2355.66, down 1.14% (27.12 points) from the previous trading day. This was the first time in about two months since mid-July that the KOSPI closed below the 2360 level. The KOSPI opened at 2388.73, up 0.25% (5.95 points) from the previous day, but soon turned downward. The decline accelerated in the afternoon session.

Seokhwan Kim, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, commented on the market, saying, "On the 16th, the U.S. stock market fell due to concerns about a recession following FedEx’s disappointing earnings announcement, and this negative impact continued." He added, "With this week’s FOMC regular meeting and major countries’ monetary policy meetings in China and Japan approaching, caution has increased."

In the KOSPI market, foreign investors were net sellers of 500 million KRW. During the day, foreign investors sold nearly 100 billion KRW at one point, contributing to the index’s decline, but they bought back toward the end of the session, reducing their selling stance. However, institutional investors increased their selling, offloading stocks worth 41.7 billion KRW. Individual investors were the only net buyers, purchasing 27.6 billion KRW.

Secondary battery-related stocks showed significant declines in the domestic market. LG Energy Solution closed at 478,000 KRW, down 5.53% (28,000 KRW) from the previous day. On the KOSDAQ market, stocks such as EcoPro (-6.88%) and L&F (-5.08%) also fell sharply. Researcher Kim diagnosed, "Secondary battery stocks, which showed a strong trend last week, declined overall due to profit-taking and foreign selling."

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics, the leading stock in the KOSPI market, closed at 56,500 KRW, up 0.53% (300 KRW) from the previous day. Samsung Electronics briefly turned downward during the afternoon session. Samsung SDI (1.00%) and Samsung Biologics (0.62%) also rose. On the other hand, SK Hynix (-1.21%) and NAVER (-0.91%) declined.

Among KOSPI sectors, only the electric and gas utilities sector rose by 1.52%. The transportation and warehousing sector showed the largest decline at 3.03%, affected by FedEx’s disappointing earnings announcement. Machinery (-2.79%), construction (-2.47%), and steel and metals (-2.42%) sectors also fell.

The KOSDAQ index closed at 751.91, down 2.35% (18.13 points) from the previous day. The KOSDAQ opened at 771.52, up 0.19% (1.48 points) from the previous day, but similarly turned downward shortly after opening and gradually deepened its decline.

Foreign investors were the sole net sellers in the KOSDAQ market, offloading stocks worth 51.1 billion KRW. In contrast, individual and institutional investors bought stocks worth 57.4 billion KRW and 11.8 billion KRW, respectively.

Most of the top market capitalization stocks on the KOSDAQ also declined. Bio-related stocks such as Alteogen (-3.10%), Celltrion Pharm (-2.17%), HLB (-1.07%), and Celltrion Healthcare (-0.74%) fell. Kakao Games closed at 45,600 KRW, down 6.17% (3,000 KRW), affected by controversy related to the mobile game 'Uma Musume.'

Among KOSDAQ sectors, only publishing and media replication rose by 2.01%. Metals (-3.70%), IT components (-3.46%), and information devices (-3.38%) sectors all fell by more than 3%.

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