Secondary Battery Price Drop Widens... KOSPI and KOSDAQ Close Lower

by Kim Daehyun

Published 13 Dec.2023 16:09(KST)

The domestic stock market closed lower on the 13th due to an expanded decline in secondary battery-related stocks.

Dealers are working in the dealing room of Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

On that day, the KOSPI index closed at 2510.66, down 24.61 points (0.97%) from the previous session. The index opened at 2531.23, down 4.04 points (-0.16%), and then widened its losses to close in the 2510 range. Individuals and foreigners sold net amounts of 1.5 billion KRW and 129.9 billion KRW, respectively. Institutions purchased stocks worth 94.3 billion KRW.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, most closed lower except SK Hynix (0.15%) and Samsung Life Insurance (0.14%). The biggest decliners were POSCO Future M (-4.55%), Samsung SDI (-3.59%), LG Energy Solution (-3.42%), POSCO Holdings (-3.21%), and LG Chem (-2.54%).

By sector, telecommunications (0.40%), securities (0.28%), food and beverages (0.13%), and insurance (0.04%) rose. Conversely, most sectors including medical precision (-2.34%), steel and metals (-2.03%), machinery (-1.98%), construction (-1.70%), and electrical and electronics (-1.28%) declined.

The KOSDAQ index closed at 829.31, down 10.22 points (1.22%) from the previous trading day. It started at 837.55, down 1.98 points (-0.24%), and failed to rebound. Foreigners and institutions sold 63.2 billion KRW and 126.6 billion KRW, respectively, while individuals were the sole buyers with 218.8 billion KRW.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, LS Materials (30.00%), SM Entertainment (2.02%), Lunit (1.68%), Celltrion Pharm (1.05%), and POSCO DX (0.99%) rose. LS Materials, which debuted on KOSDAQ the previous day with a closing price of 24,000 KRW, achieved the so-called 'ttattabl' (a fourfold increase from the public offering price), and on this day closed at 31,200 KRW, up 7,200 KRW (30.00%) from the previous day. On the other hand, EcoPro BM (-5.17%), L&F (-5.12%), EcoPro (-4.70%), Alteogen (-3.47%), Wemade (-2.94%), Rainbow Robotics (-2.55%), and Kakao Games (-2.18%) declined.

Kim Seok-hwan, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "Despite the dollar index falling the previous day, the rising exchange rate burdened the domestic stock market. In particular, the international weakness in secondary batteries caused the stock prices of major domestic secondary battery companies to weaken. This accounted for more than half of the decline in both KOSPI and KOSDAQ."

He added, "The U.S. stock market has been continuously rallying, setting new year-to-date highs. Depending on the results of the final Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled for today, further rises or corrections are expected. Whether the market direction is determined depends on whether the content and remarks meet the market's expectations, but the recently eased financial conditions and the market's excessive expectations are concerning."