KOSPI Ends Slightly Higher with Strong Buying by Individuals and Foreigners... KOSDAQ Surpasses 850 Level

"Secondary Battery Stocks Lead Index Rise"
KOSDAQ Index Surpasses 850 After Three Months

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The KOSPI index closed slightly higher as individuals and foreigners both showed net buying dominance.

On the 18th, the KOSPI index closed at 2566.86, up 3.30 points (0.13%) from the previous session. This marks the third consecutive day of gains. The index opened at 2568.77, up 5.21 points (0.20%), fluctuating between declines and gains throughout the day. It rose to as high as 2573.13 but gave up some of the gains. Individuals and foreigners net bought approximately 140.9 billion KRW and 57 billion KRW respectively, while institutions were the sole net sellers with about 201.6 billion KRW.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, POSCO Holdings (1.98%), LG Chem (1.01%), and Kia (0.11%) rose. Naver (NAVER) (-1.33%), Samsung Electronics (-0.55%), Hyundai Motor (-0.41%), Samsung Biologics (-0.28%), and Samsung SDI (-0.22%) declined. SK Hynix and LG Energy Solution remained flat.

By sector, transportation and warehousing (3.88%), machinery (2.03%), pharmaceuticals (1.37%), and steel & metals (1.32%) showed strength, while insurance (1.46%), telecommunications (-1.36%), construction (-1.22%), and finance (-0.89%) showed weakness.

The KOSDAQ index closed at 850.96, up 12.65 points (1.51%) from the previous trading day. This is the first time in about three months since September 22 that the KOSDAQ index has closed above the 850 level. Individuals net sold about 233 billion KRW, while foreigners and institutions net bought approximately 184.6 billion KRW and 84.3 billion KRW respectively.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, Ecopro (8.23%), Alteogen (6.78%), Celltrion Pharm (2.73%), Rainbow Robotics (1.33%), Ecopro BM (1.26%), and HLB (1.03%) rose. L&F (-2.09%) and POSCO DX (-0.38%) declined. HPSP remained flat.

Seokhwan Kim, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, explained, "The rise in secondary battery stocks particularly led the index gains," adding, "The KOSPI index also attempted to turn upward on news of an imminent announcement easing capital gains tax for major shareholders, which had triggered individual selling last week."

Meanwhile, the USD/KRW exchange rate closed at 1297.2 KRW, up 0.7 KRW from the previous trading day. This is attributed to the dollar's strength following remarks from a U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) official dismissing expectations of an early rate cut.

John Williams, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, stated, "We are really not talking about rate cuts at this time," and explained, "As Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has said, we are very focused on the question before us of whether we can achieve sufficiently restrictive monetary policy to ensure inflation returns to 2%."

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