KOSPI Closes Lower Below 2600 After One Day Due to Foreign and Institutional Selling

The KOSPI index closed lower after three trading days as foreigners and institutions recorded net selling. The 2600 level was broken after just one day.

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On the 4th, the KOSPI index closed at 2593.31, down 9.16 points (0.35%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 2604.72, up 2.25 points (0.09%). It rose as high as 2607.66 but then turned downward. Individuals net bought about 304.4 billion KRW, while foreigners and institutions net sold 59.4 billion KRW and 287 billion KRW respectively.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, Kia (0.45%), Samsung Biologics (0.40%), which announced a contract for consignment production of pharmaceuticals worth 922.7 billion KRW with Pfizer, SK Hynix (0.26%), and POSCO Holdings (0.12%) rose in that order. On the other hand, LG Chem (-1.59%), Samsung SDI (-0.84%), LG Energy Solution (-0.70%), Naver (NAVER) (-0.32%), and Hyundai Motor (-0.24%) declined. Samsung Electronics, which reached a 52-week high of 73,600 KRW during the session due to earnings expectations, remained flat.

By sector, transportation equipment (0.83%), medical precision (0.42%), and transportation and warehousing (0.27%) showed strength. Insurance (-1.98%), non-metallic minerals (-1.40%), finance (-1.26%), telecommunications (-1.11%), and food and beverage (-0.99%) declined.

Seokhwan Kim, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, explained, "The domestic stock market showed mixed trends as investors held back ahead of the U.S. market holiday. The increased selling of futures and spot by foreigners weighed on the index."

On the 3rd (local time), the U.S. stock market closed slightly higher ahead of Independence Day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 10.87 points (0.03%) to 34,418.47, the large-cap S&P 500 index gained 5.21 points (0.12%) to 4,455.59, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index increased 28.85 points (0.21%) to 13,816.77.

On the same day, the won-dollar exchange rate fell 6.6 KRW from the previous trading day to 1,301.4 KRW. Risk appetite continued, and the strengthening yuan influenced the decline. The day before, the People's Bank of China set the reference rate at 7.2046 yuan, lower than market expectations, leading to the won-dollar exchange rate drop.

The KOSDAQ index remained flat, closing at 890.00, up 0.71 points (0.08%) from the previous trading day. Individuals net bought about 235.6 billion KRW, while foreigners and institutions sold about 95.3 billion KRW and 135.8 billion KRW respectively.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, JYP Ent. (4.37%), EcoPro BM (4.17%), and POSCO DX (3.21%) rose in that order. Pearl Abyss fell 5.42%, and EcoPro (-2.42%), Celltrion Pharm (-2.26%), Celltrion Healthcare (-1.24%), HLB (-0.92%), and L&F (-0.40%) declined.

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