KOSPI Plunges Over 1% Due to China Risk... Secondary Battery and Pharmaceutical Stocks See Wider Declines

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The KOSPI index fell as risk aversion strengthened due to concerns over an economic slowdown originating from China.

On the 16th, the KOSPI index closed at 2525.64, down 45.23 points (1.76%) from the previous day. The trading volume was 670.76 million shares, and the trading value was 11.803 trillion won.

By investor type, institutions and foreigners sold a net 359.3 billion won and 1.4 billion won respectively, while individuals bought a net 329.2 billion won. Program trading saw a net sale of 25.5 billion won in arbitrage trading and a net purchase of 115.8 billion won in non-arbitrage trading.

The previous day, the New York stock market closed lower amid concerns stemming from China and a hawkish atmosphere, leading the KOSPI to start weak. Subsequently, selling pressure from institutions and foreigners intensified, widening the decline. This is interpreted as a result of strengthened risk aversion due to the economic slowdown in China.

In particular, the decline widened in secondary battery and pharmaceutical stocks, and the market showed performance-based trends by individual stocks. In this situation, stocks known as superconducting theme stocks such as Seowon, Mobis, Deokseong, Powerlogics, Seonam, and Shinseong Delta Tech all hit their upper price limits.

By sector, most sectors declined. Medical precision equipment plunged 5.66%, textiles and apparel fell 4.05%, steel and metals dropped 3.93%, chemicals declined 3.22%, distribution fell 2.53%, pharmaceuticals dropped 2.45%, transportation equipment fell 2.25%, insurance declined 1.96%, and manufacturing fell 1.9%. In contrast, telecommunications ended slightly up by 0.3%.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, more stocks declined than rose. Samsung Electronics fell 0.45%, LG Energy Solution dropped 2.95%, Samsung Biologics declined 1.64%, POSCO Holdings fell 5.37%, Samsung SDI dropped 1.48%, LG Chem declined 2.18%, and Hyundai Motor fell 1.59%. On the other hand, SK Hynix rose 0.78%, and NAVER also closed strong with a 0.68% gain.

On the same day, the KOSDAQ index closed at 878.29, down 23.39 points (2.59%) from the previous day. By investor type, institutions and individuals bought a net 120 billion won and 58.4 billion won respectively, while foreigners sold a net 161.1 billion won.

Most of the top market capitalization stocks declined. EcoPro BM and EcoPro fell 4.56% and 6.4% respectively, Celltrion Healthcare dropped 7.8%, L&F declined 2.07%, POSCO DX fell 3.18%, JYP Ent. dropped 3.95%, and Pearl Abyss declined 1.24%. In contrast, HLB closed slightly up by 0.33%.

Meanwhile, in the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won/dollar exchange rate closed at 1336.9 won, up 6 won from the previous day.

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