KOSPI Closes Lower at 2460 Level Amid Heavy Selling by Institutional Investors

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jaehee] The KOSPI index closed lower due to heavy selling by institutional investors.

On the 10th, the KOSPI index closed at 2469.73, down 0.48% (11.79 points) from the previous trading day. The KOSPI started the session at 2470.65, down 0.44% (10.87 points), and continued its weakness, falling as low as 2454.74 during the session.

In the securities market, institutions alone sold a net 626.3 billion KRW, pulling the index down. Individuals and foreigners bought net amounts of 554.7 billion KRW and 48.8 billion KRW, respectively.

Among the top 10 KOSPI stocks by market capitalization, all closed lower except Hyundai Motor (0.46%). Samsung Electronics (-0.32%), LG Energy Solution (-1.45%), SK Hynix (-0.95%), Samsung Biologics (-0.74%), Samsung SDI (-0.41%), LG Chem (-1.03%), Samsung Electronics Preferred (-0.70%), and Kakao (-4.65%) all declined. NAVER closed unchanged.

By sector, textiles and apparel (1.67%), insurance (1.13%), transportation equipment (0.96%), food and beverage (0.91%), and construction (0.85%) closed higher. Meanwhile, non-metallic minerals (-4.10%), services (-1.73%), pharmaceuticals (-1.52%), machinery (-1.32%), medical precision (-1.22%), steel and metals (-0.71%), and electrical and electronics (-0.61%) recorded declines.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee Kyungmin, a researcher at Daishin Securities, explained, "Next week, as we check the US January inflation data, the market’s expectations for interest rate cuts will be re-examined. If the outlook and expectations for the pace of inflation slowdown change, we must be cautious about the possibility of further upward revisions to this year’s peak interest rate as well as the weakening or disappearance of interest rate cut expectations."

The KOSDAQ index closed at 772.44, down 1.55% (12.14 points) from the previous session. The index started at 783.07, down 0.19% (1.51 points), and widened its losses during the session.

In the KOSDAQ market, foreigners and institutions led the decline by selling net amounts of 106.9 billion KRW and 222.5 billion KRW, respectively. Individuals were net buyers with 347.5 billion KRW.

Among the top 10 KOSDAQ stocks by market capitalization, HYBE acted as a white knight, pushing SM Entertainment up sharply by 16.45%. Other stocks that closed higher included EcoPro BM (1.53%), L&F (0.44%), and Osstem Implant (0.27%). Meanwhile, Celltrion Healthcare (-2.50%), EcoPro (-1.62%), Kakao Games (-2.67%), HLB (-3.10%), Pearl Abyss (-3.01%), and Rino Industrial (-0.06%) declined.

By sector, all sectors except entertainment culture (2.01%) and transportation (0.33%) closed lower. Computer services (-3.43%), digital content (-3.26%), and telecommunications services (-3.17%) were among the sectors that fell.

On this day, the daily trading value in the securities market and the KOSDAQ market were 8.2704 trillion KRW and 10.3899 trillion KRW, respectively. The KOSDAQ market’s daily trading value exceeded 10 trillion KRW for the first time since March 29 of last year (10.3715 trillion KRW).

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