Last Trading Day of the Year, KOSPI Closes at 2230 Level

US Stock Market Declines Amid Tech Stock Drop Including Apple
Market Falls Amid Foreign and Institutional Heavy Selling

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] On the last trading day of the year, the 29th, both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices closed lower. Although individual investors actively bought, foreigners and institutions sold large volumes.

On that day, the KOSPI index closed at 2236.40, down 44.05 points (1.93%) from the previous day. The index started lower after the opening and fluctuated around the 2260 level before turning downward around 10 a.m. It then dropped to the 2250 level. Although it seemed to recover briefly, the decline deepened from the afternoon, falling below the 2240 level and then the 2230 level, marking a disappointing close.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

There was heavy selling from institutions and foreigners. Institutions net sold 577.2 billion KRW, and foreigners sold 140.2 billion KRW. As a result, the index steadily declined, while individuals net bought 671.8 billion KRW, continuing the tug-of-war, but could not stop the downward trend.

All of the top 10 market cap stocks fell. Kia (-2.63%) and Samsung Electronics (-2.30%) showed declines greater than the KOSPI index drop, both in the 2% range, while Samsung SDI (-1.99%), Hyundai Motor (-1.95%), Naver (-1.39%), SK Hynix (-1.32%), and Samsung Biologics (-1.08%) recorded declines in the 1% range.

The background to this decline lies in the U.S. stock market that closed overnight. On the 28th (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 365.85 points (1.10%) to close at 32,875.71. The S&P 500 index fell 46.03 points (1.20%) to 3,783.22, and the Nasdaq index dropped 139.94 points (1.35%) to 12,213.29.

The KOSDAQ index also gave up the 690 level and then the 680 level. It closed at 679.29, down 13.08 points (1.89%) from the previous session. It followed a similar pattern to the KOSPI. After briefly recovering the 690 level early in the session and rebounding, it fluctuated before turning downward. After breaking below the 680 level, it failed to recover and closed near the 670 level.

With heavy selling from foreigners (139 billion KRW) and institutions (49.8 billion KRW), individuals bought 187.3 billion KRW but could not reverse the downward trend.

Most of the top market cap stocks declined. Celltrion Healthcare (-4.76%), HLB (-3.73%), EcoPro (-2.46%), and Pearl Abyss (-2.44%) experienced large drops. However, Kakao Games showed strength with a 5.81% rise due to China allowing imports of foreign games, and JYP Ent. (1.35%) and L&F (1.23%) also recorded gains above 1%, which was notable.

The exchange rate closed slightly lower. In the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won-dollar exchange rate closed at 1264.50 KRW, down 2.5 KRW from the previous closing price of 1267 KRW.

Lee Kyung-min, a researcher at Daishin Securities, analyzed, “The visible reopening of China backfired, acting as one of the factors worsening investor sentiment. Also, the continued decline of most tech stocks including Apple in the U.S. market the previous day contributed to the KOSPI’s decline today.”

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