KOSPI Rises 0.6% on Foreign and Institutional Buying... SK Hynix Up 2%

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] The KOSPI index is on the rise as foreign investors and institutions continue their buying momentum.

As of 9:55 a.m. on the 18th, the KOSPI index was recorded at 2,457.02, up 14.12 points (0.58%) from the previous trading day. The index, which started the day higher, continues its upward trend driven by foreign buying. Foreign investors and institutions net bought approximately 62.7 billion KRW and 5.2 billion KRW respectively, leading the index's rise. Meanwhile, individual investors sold off about 69 billion KRW on their own.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, most showed gains except for Kakao (-1.69%) and NAVER (-0.53%). SK Hynix posted the largest increase, rising over 2% despite forecasts of an operating loss in Q4 this year. It was followed by Samsung SDI (1.43%), Hyundai Motor (1.18%), and Samsung Biologics (1.03%).

By sector, steel & metals (1.21%), electrical & electronics (1.10%), transportation equipment (0.85%), and manufacturing (0.84%) rose. Meanwhile, service industries (-0.56%), non-metallic minerals (-0.55%), and paper & wood (-0.35%) declined.

On the 17th (local time), the U.S. stock market closed lower due to hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve officials. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7.51 points (0.02%) to 33,546.32, the large-cap S&P 500 index dropped 12.23 points (0.31%) to 3,946.56, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index declined 38.70 points (0.35%) to 11,144.96.

James Bullard, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, stated, "The policy rate is not yet at a sufficiently restrictive level." Kiwoom Securities analyst Han Ji-young commented, "The retail sales data surprise released the previous day appears to be reducing expectations for a policy shift by the Federal Reserve."

As of 9:55 a.m. on the same day, the USD/KRW exchange rate rose 0.2 KRW from the previous close to 1,339.3 KRW.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ index was also on the rise, trading at 738.42, up 0.88 points (0.12%) from the previous trading day. Individual and institutional investors net bought approximately 45.7 billion KRW and 16.3 billion KRW respectively, while foreign investors sold about 60.8 billion KRW.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, Lino Industrial (1.43%), Celltrion Healthcare (0.76%), EcoPro (0.55%), and HLB (0.41%) rose. In contrast, L&F and Kakao Games fell more than 2%.

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