Foreign and Institutional Buying Drives KOSPI to Close Above 3,210

KOSDAQ Closes Higher
Pharmaceutical and Biotech Stocks Underperform

The KOSPI closed higher on July 21, reclaiming the 3,200 mark, supported by net buying from foreign investors.

On July 21, the KOSPI index ended trading at 3,210.81, up 22.74 points (0.71%) from the previous day. The index opened at 3,191.11, up 3.04 points (0.10%), and continued to rise throughout the session, surpassing the 3,210 level. Foreign investors purchased 896 billion KRW worth of shares, while institutional investors bought 101.3 billion KRW. Individual investors sold approximately 1.06 trillion KRW worth of shares.

The KOSPI index is displayed on the monitor in the dealing room of Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun

Among the top stocks by market capitalization, Doosan Enerbility (5.56%), POSCO Holdings (5.14%), Hanwha Ocean (4.98%), HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (4.81%), LG Energy Solution (2.64%), Hanwha Aerospace (2.57%), Samsung Electronics Preferred (2.19%), KB Financial Group (1.41%), SK Hynix (1.30%), and Samsung Electronics (1.04%) all recorded gains. In contrast, Samsung Life Insurance (-2.21%), Hyundai Mobis (-1.32%), Samsung Biologics (-1.14%), NAVER (-0.83%), and Hyundai Motor (-0.71%) declined.

Kim Jiwon, a researcher at KB Securities, stated, "Foreign investors have been net buyers of KOSPI stocks for eight consecutive trading days. The electrical and electronics sector also maintained its buying momentum, driving the index higher," adding, "Secondary battery stocks were also strong."

By sector, machinery and equipment (3.55%), metals (3.03%), electricity and gas (2.32%), entertainment and culture (2.01%), chemicals (1.62%), transportation equipment and parts (1.44%), electrical and electronics (1.18%), and manufacturing (1.17%) all posted gains. On the other hand, transportation and storage (-1.76%), insurance (-1.36%), paper and wood (-1.21%), securities (-1.14%), medical precision instruments (-1.12%), food, beverages, and tobacco (-1.05%), pharmaceuticals (-1.00%), textiles and apparel (-0.83%), and finance (-0.38%) declined.

The KOSDAQ index closed at 821.69, up 1.02 points (0.12%) from the previous day. The index started the day at 819.84, down 0.83 points (0.10%), but rebounded in the afternoon. Although foreign investors were net sellers of 19.2 billion KRW, institutional and individual investors bought 11.1 billion KRW and 10.3 billion KRW worth of shares, respectively.

The KOSDAQ was relatively weak as large-cap pharmaceutical and biotech stocks faced heavy selling pressure. Among the top market cap stocks, SM (6.96%), Caregen (2.59%), Ecopro (2.37%), Peptron (2.21%), JYP Ent. (1.46%), PharmaResearch (1.23%), and Ecopro BM (1.07%) gained. In contrast, HLB (-4.91%), ABL Bio (-4.04%), Voronoi (-3.09%), Ligachem Bio (-2.71%), Hugel (-2.36%), EO Technics (-2.20%), Alteogen (-1.43%), Kolon TissueGene (-1.25%), and Samchundang Pharm (-0.82%) declined.

Researcher Kim Jiwon added, "This week, a number of major domestic and global big tech companies (large information technology firms) such as Tesla, Alphabet, IBM, SK Hynix, and Intel are scheduled to announce their earnings, so the results and the stock market trends are expected to be closely linked."

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