Foreigners and Institutions Sell Off, KOSPI Declines Over 1%... Near 2440 Level

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] The KOSPI index is showing a decline of over 1% as foreigners and institutions recorded net selling.

As of 9:57 a.m. on the 16th, the KOSPI index stood at 2449.22, down 31.11 points (1.26%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 2487.00, up 6.67 points (0.27%), but turned downward as foreigners and institutions sold, widening the decline. Foreigners and institutions sold approximately 217.8 billion KRW and 74.1 billion KRW respectively. Individuals alone bought about 289.3 billion KRW, helping to curb the index's fall.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, most showed declines. Samsung Biologics (-2.76%) fell the most, followed by LG Chem (-2.39%), Samsung SDI (-1.95%), Hyundai Motor (-1.72%), and LG Energy Solution (-1.68%).

By sector, only the food and beverage industry (0.39%) showed gains, while the rest declined. Non-metallic minerals (-3.58%), steel and metals (-2.42%), pharmaceuticals (-2.30%), construction (-2.21%), and textiles and apparel (-2.12%) fell in that order.

On the 15th (local time), the U.S. stock market closed higher as the October Producer Price Index (PPI) rose only 0.2% month-over-month, below market expectations, raising hopes for easing inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 56.22 points (0.17%) to 33,592.92, the large-cap S&P 500 index gained 34.48 points (0.87%) to 3,991.73, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index increased 162.19 points (1.45%) to 11,358.41.

However, news of a suspected Russian missile landing in Poland caused the dollar to strengthen, erasing gains in the late session. As of 9:48 a.m., the USD/KRW exchange rate traded at 1,321.3 won, up 3.7 won from the previous trading day.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ index also fell 5.47 points (0.73%) to 739.49 compared to the previous day. Individuals were net buyers of about 141.7 billion KRW, while foreigners and institutions were net sellers of approximately 127.0 billion KRW and 12.1 billion KRW respectively.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, EcoPro BM fell more than 4%. This was followed by EcoPro (-3.16%), HLB (-2.96%), Celltrion Healthcare (-2.19%), and Celltrion Pharm (-1.80%). On the other hand, Cheonbo (1.23%), Pearl Abyss (0.68%), Lino Industrial (0.13%), and Kakao Games (0.11%) showed gains.

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