KOSPI Closes at 2580.80... Reminiscent of US-Originated 'R Fear'

Widening Intraday Decline... Falling Below 2580 Level

Affected by the sharp decline in the US stock market, the domestic stock market also opened with the KOSPI falling more than 50 points and the KOSDAQ dropping over 20 points. Various indices are displayed in the dealing room at the Seoul Hana Bank headquarters. Photo by Heo Younghan younghan@

The KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices each closed the trading session on the 4th down more than 3%. This level is reminiscent of the 'R fear' (recession fear) originating from the U.S. on the 5th of last month.

On the 4th, the KOSPI index closed at 2,580.80, down 83.83 points (3.15%) from the previous trading day. The index started down 2.8% and during the session fell more than 2%, briefly dropping below the 2,580 level.

This is the first time in 18 trading days since August 9 (2,588.43) that the KOSPI index has closed below the 2,600 mark.

The domestic stock market's weakness on this day was due to increased anxiety about the U.S. stock market after the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) August Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell short of market expectations. Overnight in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.51%, while the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices dropped 2.12% and 3.26%, respectively.

In the securities market, foreigners and institutions sold net amounts of 986.5 billion KRW and 730.8 billion KRW, respectively, while individuals bought a net amount of 1.6485 trillion KRW. The scale of individual net buying is the largest since the market crash on the 5th of last month (1.6945 trillion KRW).

By individual stocks, domestic semiconductor representative stocks fell together due to the sharp decline in AI and semiconductor stocks in the U.S. market, including Nvidia's plunge of over 9% the previous day.

In particular, SK Hynix plummeted 8.02%, closing at 154,800 KRW, below the closing price on the 5th of last month (156,100 KRW). Samsung Electronics (-3.45%) closed at 70,000 KRW, also falling below the August 5 closing price (71,400 KRW).

Most of the top market capitalization stocks also declined. NAVER (-4.72%), Kakao (-5.66%), KB Financial (-3.91%), Samsung SDI (-3.50%), Shinhan Financial Group (-2.97%), and LG Energy Solution (-2.80%) also fell.

By sector, all sectors declined including Medical Precision (-4.52%), Electrical & Electronics (-4.09%), Machinery (-3.77%), Steel & Metals (-3.14%), Textile & Apparel (-3.09%), and Chemicals (-3.02%), with only Telecommunications (-0.64%) holding up relatively well.

The KOSDAQ index closed at 731.75, down 28.62 points (3.76%) from the previous trading day. The index started down 2.86% from the previous close and then widened its losses.

In the KOSDAQ market, institutions sold 149.5 billion KRW, while foreigners and individuals bought net amounts of 28.9 billion KRW and 112.8 billion KRW, respectively.

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