[MarketING] Foreigners' Mixed Fortunes... KOSPI Rises While KOSDAQ Falls

KOSPI Ends Higher After 3 Days
KOSDAQ Turns Lower in the Afternoon

The KOSPI closed higher after three days. Meanwhile, the KOSDAQ failed to maintain its upward momentum and closed lower. Foreign investors' supply and demand differentiated the fortunes of the KOSPI and KOSDAQ. Foreign investors actively bought in the KOSPI market, driving the index up, while they showed a selling bias in the KOSDAQ market, pulling the index down.

KOSPI rises after three days... KOSDAQ weakens after one day

On the 8th, the KOSPI closed at 2,513.21, up 12.27 points (0.49%) from the previous session. The KOSDAQ closed at 842.28, down 2.78 points (0.33%). Both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ started the day higher, but the KOSDAQ turned to a downward trend in the afternoon and closed weaker.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Foreign investors changed the direction of the two indices. On that day, foreign investors net bought 251.7 billion KRW in the KOSPI market but sold 56.8 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ market. Individual investors moved in the opposite direction to foreign investors, net selling 695 billion KRW in the KOSPI market and net buying 25.3 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ market. Institutions net bought 450.3 billion KRW in the KOSPI market and 51.9 billion KRW in the KOSDAQ market. Kim Seok-hwan, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, explained, "The domestic stock market started higher, following the upward trend of the US stock market, but the KOSDAQ turned lower due to selling pressure mainly on secondary battery and entertainment stocks."

Stocks that attracted buying from foreign investors and institutions showed notable strength. On that day, NAVER, Samsung Electronics, and LG Innotek ranked first to third in net buying by foreign investors and institutions. NAVER and LG Innotek rose over 5%, and Samsung Electronics also increased by more than 1%.

NAVER's strong earnings led to its stock price rise. On that day, NAVER announced that it recorded sales of 2.2804 trillion KRW and operating profit of 330.5 billion KRW in the first quarter of this year. Sales increased by 23.6% and operating profit by 9.5% compared to the same period last year. Surpassing market expectations, NAVER's stock closed up 5.56% at 10,900 KRW. Kim So-hye, a researcher at Hanwha Investment & Securities, analyzed, "NAVER's first-quarter operating profit exceeded market consensus by 8%. Despite the search platform sales growing only 0.2% year-on-year due to economic slowdown and advertisers' budget cuts, operating profit increased by 9.5% thanks to gradual cost-efficiency strategies." She added, "Recently, NAVER's stock price has fallen about 15% from its peak, reflecting concerns about both macroeconomic and fundamental factors. Despite prolonged economic contraction, NAVER maintains higher growth compared to global big tech companies, and if cost-efficiency strategies become more concrete, the timing of profitability improvement could be accelerated."

LG Innotek closed at 14,000 KRW, up 5.39%, buoyed by Apple's strong earnings. Researcher Kim Seok-hwan said, "Following Apple's strong earnings announcement, domestic Apple-related stocks like LG Innotek showed strength, with expectations rising. Due to strong iPhone sales in emerging markets, overall earnings growth is expected for iPhone parts suppliers."

Foreign investors steadily accumulate Samsung Electronics... favorable environment for semiconductors

Samsung Electronics rose 1.23% as institutional buying joined the steady foreign investor demand. There are expectations for a favorable environment for semiconductors, raising hopes for future stock price gains.

Foreign investors have net bought Samsung Electronics for seven consecutive trading days through this day. Since April 17, they have net bought every day except one. During this period, the foreign ownership ratio of Samsung Electronics rose from 51.52% to 51.95%. Samsung Electronics was also the most purchased stock this month, with net buying of 309.4 billion KRW.

Amid steady foreign buying, an analysis suggests a favorable environment is forming for semiconductors. Kim Dae-jun, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, explained, "US employment recovery, Apple's strong earnings, and economic cooperation with Japan can positively affect Korea's IT sector among various industries. Among them, semiconductors could be the biggest beneficiaries."

The US nonfarm payrolls for April, announced last week, were 253,000, exceeding both the previous month and expectations. Kim said, "Considering that solid employment leads to income growth and consumption activation, the consumption environment in the US is likely to improve gradually. In this case, demand for IT products is expected to recover, and sales of IT components like semiconductors could increase."

Apple's strong earnings are also positive for semiconductors. Given that Apple's stock price showed the same directional trend as the Korean IT index, investment sentiment toward the IT sector, which includes semiconductors, is expected to improve.

Economic cooperation with Japan is also a hopeful factor. Kim analyzed, "In the past, Japan's export restrictions led to Korea's efforts to localize materials, parts, and equipment (SoBuJang), but cost issues were a problem. Now that import lines to Japan are normalizing, cost burdens will be offset, and semiconductor companies' earnings are likely to improve compared to before."

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