KOSPI Closes Lower... 'Ecopro Brothers' Surge, KOSDAQ Breaks 900 Mark

On the 18th, the KOSPI index closed lower. Meanwhile, the KOSDAQ index reclaimed the 900 level as the so-called 'Ecopro brothers' showed a strong surge.

On that day, the KOSPI closed at 2,607.62, down 11.38 points (0.43%) from the previous trading day. It initially rose to 2,626.89 in early trading but soon turned downward, barely holding above the 2,600 level. Individual investors in the KOSPI market were net buyers of 476.8 billion KRW, while foreigners and institutions were net sellers of 185.9 billion KRW and 300 billion KRW, respectively.

The stock price directions of the top market capitalization stocks in the KOSPI market were mixed. Samsung Electronics showed weakness, closing down 1.77% at 72,000 KRW. Samsung Biologics (-0.54%) and Hyundai Motor (-0.98%) also closed lower.

On the other hand, LG Energy Solution (2.04%), SK Hynix (0.51%), Samsung SDI (0.58%), and LG Chem (1.34%) closed higher. In particular, POSCO Future M surged 13.23% in a single day, quickly rising to become the 10th largest by market capitalization.

Kim Seok-hwan, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "The KOSDAQ index showed strength, breaking through the 900 level due to the strong performance of secondary battery material stocks and program buying inflows. This reflects expectations for secondary battery stocks ahead of Tesla's Cybertruck delivery and earnings announcement."

The KOSDAQ closed at 914.14, up 15.85 points (1.76%) from the previous trading day. Foreign investors were net buyers of 499.2 billion KRW, while individuals and institutions were net sellers of 348.7 billion KRW and 137.4 billion KRW, respectively.

On that day in the KOSDAQ market, Ecopro BM and Ecopro both showed strong surges. Ecopro BM closed at 326,000 KRW, up 16.85% from the previous day, and Ecopro closed at 1,118,000 KRW, up 11.91%. Ecopro reached an intraday high of 1,148,000 KRW, setting a new all-time high and briefly overtaking Ecopro BM to become the largest by market capitalization in the KOSDAQ. Other stocks such as L&F (5.32%) and Pearl Abyss (4.69%) also closed higher.

Conversely, Celltrion Healthcare (-5.46%), HLB (-4.83%), and Celltrion Pharm (-5.98%) underperformed.

Meanwhile, in the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won-dollar exchange rate closed at 1,260.4 KRW, down 6.2 KRW from the previous session.

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