KOSPI Slightly Down Early Session Amid Foreign Selling Pressure... KOSDAQ Rises

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] On the morning of the 19th, the KOSPI index showed a slight decline in the early trading session.

As of 9:18 AM, the KOSPI index was recorded at 2248.33, down 1.62 points (0.07%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 2249.35, down 0.60 points (0.03%), but soon turned upward to recover above the 2250 level. However, it then reversed to a decline. Individuals and institutions bought stocks worth approximately 43.3 billion KRW and 2.6 billion KRW respectively, while foreigners sold a net amount of 47.1 billion KRW.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, Celltrion rose by 1.13%, Samsung Biologics by 0.95%, and LG Energy Solution by 0.82%. On the other hand, LG Chem fell by 3.27%, recording the largest drop.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ index rose by 0.32 points (0.05%) to 697.41. Individuals led the index increase by purchasing stocks worth 67.5 billion KRW. Foreigners and institutions sold stocks worth approximately 42.6 billion KRW and 24.5 billion KRW respectively.

Due to strong corporate earnings, the U.S. stock market closed higher. On the 18th (local time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 337.98 points (1.12%) to close at 30,523.80, the large-cap S&P 500 index increased by 42.03 points (1.14%) to 3,719.98, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index gained 96.60 points (0.90%) to finish at 17,724.0.

Seo Sang-young, head of the Media Content Division at Mirae Asset Securities, explained, "The U.S. stock market’s early gains were followed by increased volatility due to the Bank of England’s (BOE) announcement that there will be no quantitative tightening, which expanded interest rate volatility. This ongoing anxiety remains a burden on the domestic stock market."

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