KOSPI Barely Holds 2170 Level... Both Investor Sentiment and Supply-Demand Worsen

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] The KOSPI is barely holding the 2170 level amid worsening supply and demand conditions. The KOSDAQ is showing a decline of over 3% as of the afternoon on the 13th. Investor sentiment has weakened ahead of the U.S. September Consumer Price Index (CPI) announcement scheduled for tonight, and the coinciding options expiration date is adding to the negative supply and demand factors.

As of 2:07 PM, the KOSPI is at 2170.22, down 1.46% (32.25 points) from the previous day. The KOSPI opened at 2198.29, down 0.19% (4.18 points), but has been steadily widening its losses throughout the day.

Simultaneous selling pressure from foreigners and institutions is impacting supply and demand. Foreigners and institutions are net sellers of 81.2 billion KRW and 71.8 billion KRW respectively. In particular, foreigners are offloading 1.2929 trillion KRW in the futures market. Individuals are buying 138.1 billion KRW, a slight decrease from the morning.

Lee Kyung-min, a researcher at Daishin Securities, explained, "The burden of the inflation level ultimately leads to the double hardship of monetary tightening and economic recession, resulting in a continued unfavorable investment environment. On the options expiration day, foreigners are net selling futures worth about 1.2 trillion KRW."

On the 11th, dealers are working in the dealing room of Hana Bank in Euljiro, Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

Looking at the top market capitalization stocks, only Celltrion is up 0.61%, Kia 0.44%, and SK Hynix 0.21%. Meanwhile, LG Energy Solution, which had been rising throughout the morning, is down 0.72%. The stocks with the largest declines are LG Chem at -2.20% and Naver at -2.16%.

As of 2:15 PM, the KOSDAQ is down 3.04% (20.39 points) from the previous day, at 651.28, hitting a new yearly low. The KOSDAQ opened at 669.36, down 0.34% (2.31 points), but during the session dropped as much as 3.17% to 650.39.

The KOSDAQ is also losing momentum due to selling pressure from foreigners and institutions. Foreigners and institutions are selling 89.8 billion KRW and 47.3 billion KRW respectively. In contrast, individuals alone are buying 124.1 billion KRW.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, all are declining except for EcoPro BM (+4.32%) and EcoPro (+0.57%). The declines are led by Pearl Abyss at -9.50%, Kakao Games -6.20%, HLB -2.86%, JYP Entertainment -2.48%, Celltrion Pharm -1.47%, Celltrion Healthcare -1.23%, and Reno Industrial -1.01%.

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