'Secondary Battery Profit-Taking'... KOSPI Falls 1.7% and KOSDAQ Drops 4.2% Sharply at Close

On the 26th, the domestic stock market experienced increased volatility throughout the trading session and closed lower.

On this day, the KOSPI index closed at 2,592.36, down 44.10 points (1.67%) from the previous trading day. It was the first time in nine trading days that the closing price fell below 2,600 since the 13th (2,591.23). Individual investors net bought nearly 1 trillion won, totaling 994.1 billion won, but foreigners and institutions sold 946.4 billion won and 65.9 billion won, respectively.

The KOSPI index showed a flat trend immediately after the market opened but sharply declined in the afternoon, dropping to 2,580.98. It then rebounded and fluctuated but closed below 2,600.

Among the top 10 companies by market capitalization on the Korea Exchange, all stocks except LG Chem (0.41%) closed lower. Early in the session, stocks related to secondary batteries surged but gave up all gains and closed down. POSCO Holdings soared about 15% in the morning to 764,000 won, setting a new all-time high, but turned downward in the afternoon, falling below 600,000 won during the session and closing at 630,000 won, down 4.26% from the previous day. POSCO Future M also rose to 694,000 won, surpassing Samsung SDI to rank 7th in market capitalization during the session, but weakened in the afternoon and closed down 6.35% at 560,000 won.

The KOSDAQ index also showed extreme volatility on this day. It rose to 956.40 in the morning, setting a record high for the KOSDAQ market capitalization, but then retreated more than 70 points to 886.14 before closing at 900.63, down 39.33 points (4.18%) from the previous session.

Kim Seok-hwan, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "Volatility in the index expanded again due to the concentration of supply and demand centered on secondary batteries amid the release of sell orders," adding, "As a result, the impact of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) and major corporate earnings announcements was limited."

In the KOSDAQ market, foreign investors net bought 865.8 billion won, while institutions and foreigners net sold 618 billion won and 211.1 billion won, respectively.

The "EcoPro brothers," who hold the first and second largest market capitalizations in the KOSDAQ, surged early in the session, setting all-time highs, but their stock prices sharply declined in the afternoon, closing down together. EcoPro BM closed at 455,000 won, down 1.52% from the previous day.

EcoPro, the only "emperor stock" in the domestic market, experienced a rollercoaster ride, soaring to 1,539,000 won at one point during the session before falling back to 1,136,000 won. Profit-taking selling pressure on the sharply risen stock led to a 5.03% decline, closing at 1,228,000 won.

Meanwhile, in the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won-dollar exchange rate closed at 1,274.5 won, down 0.9 won.

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