Foreigners Listing Properties Lead to Slight KOSPI Decline... Caution Ahead of US CPI and FOMC

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] The KOSPI index slightly declined due to foreign selling pressure.

On the 13th, the KOSPI index closed at 2,372.40, down 0.62 points (0.03%) from the previous day. This marked a decline for two consecutive trading days. The index opened at 2,385.05, up 12.03 points (0.51%), but gave up its gains. It fluctuated throughout the day and even dropped to 2,364.87 in the afternoon. Individuals and institutions bought net amounts worth approximately 36.5 billion KRW and 44.4 billion KRW respectively, helping to defend against further declines. In contrast, foreigners sold about 113.7 billion KRW worth of shares.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, Kia recorded the largest drop, falling 3.99%. It was followed by Hyundai Motor (-2.45%), LG Energy Solution (-1.10%), Samsung SDI (-1.08%), and LG Chem (-0.80%). SK Hynix rose 1.48%, with Samsung Biologics (0.61%), Samsung Electronics (0.34%), and Kakao (0.17%) also posting gains. NAVER remained flat. NCSoft, which is expected to face overlapping new releases with competitors, fell more than 8% on the day.

By sector, transportation equipment (-1.52%), services (-0.71%), construction (-0.42%), non-metallic minerals (-0.40%), textiles and apparel (-0.31%), and telecommunications (-0.24%) declined. On the other hand, medical precision rose more than 2%, followed by pharmaceuticals (1.45%), distribution (0.66%), steel and metals (0.52%), and electric and gas utilities (0.37%).

The market showed a cautious stance ahead of the scheduled release of the US November Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Federal Reserve's December Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) regular meeting on the 13th and 14th. Kim Seok-hwan, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, explained, "Concerns about economic slowdown and cautiousness ahead of major US economic events such as the CPI and FOMC limited the rise. The won-dollar exchange rate also fell, leading to a stronger won, but foreigners expanded their selling." The won-dollar exchange rate closed at 1,306.0 KRW, down 1.2 KRW from the previous day's close.

Lee Kyung-min, a researcher at Daishin Securities, said, "Despite the rebound in the US stock market the previous day, the impact on the KOSPI was limited. Ahead of the US November CPI announcement at night, heightened caution and foreign selling pressure increased downward pressure on the market."

On the 12th (local time), the US stock market closed higher as expected inflation figures eased. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 528.58 points (1.58%) to 34,005.04, the large-cap S&P 500 index gained 56.18 points (1.43%) to 3,990.56, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index increased 139.12 points (1.26%) to 11,143.74. According to a January consumer outlook survey released by the New York Federal Reserve Bank, the expected inflation rate for the next year was 5.2%, down 0.7 percentage points from the previous month and the lowest level since August last year.

The KOSDAQ index closed at 715.16, down 0.06 points (0.01%) from the previous trading day. It opened at 717.64, up 2.42 points (0.34%), but then declined. Individuals and institutions bought net amounts of about 20.2 billion KRW and 3.2 billion KRW respectively, while foreigners sold about 16.8 billion KRW worth of shares.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, Studio Dragon showed the largest drop at -3.94%. It was followed by Pearl Abyss (-3.35%), L&F (-0.76%), and EcoPro (-0.27%). On the other hand, Rino Industrial rose 1.87%, Celltrion Pharm 1.85%, HLB 1.22%, Celltrion Healthcare 1.08%, EcoPro BM 0.89%, and Kakao Games 0.58%.

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