KOSPI Closes Flat at 3,198 Despite U.S. Tariff Concerns

by Jang Hyowon

Published 06 Aug.2025 16:00(KST)

Yonhap News Agency

The KOSPI closed nearly flat despite concerns over U.S.-driven tariffs.

On August 6, the KOSPI finished trading at 3,198.14, up 0.14 points (0%) from the previous day. Trading volume was provisionally tallied at 319.82 million shares, with a transaction value of 10.7203 trillion won.

The previous day, the New York stock market closed lower after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he would unveil tariffs on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals next week. President Trump signaled tariffs of up to 250% on pharmaceuticals. As a result, the KOSPI opened lower, but managed to close flat as individual investors offset selling by institutions and foreigners with net purchases.

By investor type, institutions and foreigners recorded net sales of 54.2 billion won and 66.3 billion won, respectively, while individuals made net purchases of 47.4 billion won. In the futures market, institutions and individuals posted net sales of 85.9 billion won and 147.6 billion won, respectively, while foreigners recorded net purchases of 201.4 billion won. Program trading saw net sales of 9.5 billion won in arbitrage trades and 145.5 billion won in non-arbitrage trades.

More sectors rose than fell. The electricity and gas sector climbed 6.53%, construction 3.43%, transportation and storage 2.11%, chemicals 1.9%, food, beverage, and tobacco 1.5%, securities 1.23%, machinery and equipment 1.13%, insurance 1.09%, retail 1.0%, finance 0.96%, medical precision 0.94%, and textiles and apparel 0.85%. In contrast, the electrical and electronics sector fell 1.21%, pharmaceuticals dropped 0.87%, and transportation equipment declined 0.55%.

Among large-cap stocks, performances were mixed. Samsung Electronics fell 1.57%, SK hynix dropped 1.9%, LG Energy Solution declined 0.65%, Samsung Biologics decreased 1.9%, and Hanwha Aerospace lost 2.6%. On the other hand, KB Financial Group rose 2.85%, Doosan Enerbility climbed 2.31%, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries gained 0.54%, Celltrion increased 0.39%, and Kia advanced 0.39%.

The number of advancing stocks was 647, while 237 stocks declined and 51 remained unchanged. Two stocks hit the daily upper limit.

The KOSDAQ index closed higher, buoyed by net buying from institutions. The KOSDAQ finished at 803.49, up 4.89 points (0.61%) from the previous day. By investor type, institutions made net purchases of 79.1 billion won, while foreigners and individuals recorded net sales of 2.3 billion won and 78.7 billion won, respectively.

Among major KOSDAQ stocks, performances varied. Ecopro BM rose 1.12%, Peptron gained 6.1%, PharmaResearch climbed 6.03%, LIG ChemBio advanced 7.86%, Rainbow Robotics increased 1.29%, Hugel was up 4.59%, and ABL Bio gained 1.73%. In contrast, Alteogen fell 1.01%, Ecopro declined 0.38%, HLB dropped 2.21%, Samchundang Pharm decreased 0.93%, and LIG Nex1 fell 0.76%.