KOSPI Ends Strong on Dual Buying by Institutions and Foreigners

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The KOSPI index closed higher, supported by combined buying from institutions and foreigners.

On the 2nd, the KOSPI index closed at 2669.81, up 14.53 points (0.55%) from the previous day. Trading volume was 402.9 million shares, and the trading value was tentatively estimated at 9.5177 trillion KRW.

By investor type, institutions and foreigners net bought 112.2 billion KRW and 228.3 billion KRW respectively, while individuals net sold 344.2 billion KRW. Program trading saw net buying of 162.9 billion KRW in arbitrage trading and net selling of 133 billion KRW in non-arbitrage trading.

The KOSPI index, which had shown nine consecutive weeks of gains, started the day weak amid expectations of a slight pause on the first day of the new year. Institutions and foreigners initially sold in the early session but switched to net buying during the day, leading the market turnaround.

By sector, most showed declines. Steel & Metals fell 1.7%, Insurance 1.4%, and Textiles & Apparel 1.3%. In contrast, Pharmaceuticals rose 6.6%, Medical Precision 4.6%, and Transportation & Warehousing 2.2%.

On this day, shares of the Celltrion group showed strength. Celltrion and Celltrion Healthcare announced on the 28th of last month that they had completed their merger. Positive outlooks from the securities industry suggested that the merger would enhance transparency through simplified trading structures and improve cost competitiveness through better cost ratios, leading Celltrion to rise 14.8% and Celltrion Pharm to hit the upper price limit.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, more stocks declined. Kia and POSCO Holdings fell over 2%, and Shinhan Financial Group dropped 1.9%. Hyundai Motor, LG Chem, Samsung SDI, and POSCO Future M also fell more than 1%. Conversely, Kakao rose 6.6%, EcoPro BM increased 6%, and HMM gained 5.2% amid rising tensions over the Red Sea trade route. Samsung Biologics rose 3.4%, and Samsung Electronics closed up 1.4%.

The KOSDAQ index also closed higher on the day. The KOSDAQ index ended at 878.93, up 12.36 points (1.43%) from the previous day. By investor type, foreigners net bought 128.4 billion KRW, while institutions and individuals net sold 31.3 billion KRW and 84.7 billion KRW respectively.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, most closed higher. L&F set a new intraday high and finished up 10.3%. HLB, Dongjin Semichem, Samchundang Pharm, ISC, and LS Materials also showed strength. On the other hand, Alteogen fell 7.1%, and Lunit, Jusung Engineering, and HPSP showed weakness.

Meanwhile, in the Seoul foreign exchange market, the KRW/USD exchange rate closed at 1300.4 won, up 12.4 won from the previous day.

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