KOSPI Drops to 3,170 Level... KOSDAQ Closes Slightly Higher

KOSPI Falls as Foreign Investors and Institutions Sell

On August 26, the KOSPI fell by nearly 1%, retreating to the 3,170 level. In contrast, the KOSDAQ managed to rebound and closed slightly higher.

Yonhap News

On this day, the KOSPI finished trading at 3,179.36, down 0.95% from the previous session. The index opened at 3,199.92, a decrease of 0.31% from the previous day, and then widened its losses throughout the session.

Foreign investors and institutions sold off 683.3 billion won and 264.6 billion won worth of shares, respectively, dragging the index down. Individual investors purchased 848.9 billion won.

By sector, textiles & apparel (1.27%), entertainment & culture (1.22%), food, beverage & tobacco (0.99%), real estate (0.26%), and telecommunications (0.15%) rose. However, construction (-3.42%), electric & gas (-3.10%), transportation & storage (-2.24%), machinery & equipment (-2.15%), metals (-1.58%), transportation equipment & parts (-1.54%), securities & finance (-1.42%), insurance (1.00%), manufacturing (-0.87%), distribution (-0.68%), and electrical & electronics (-0.67%) ended lower.

Among the top market cap stocks, except for SK Hynix (0.77%) and LG Energy Solution (0.26%), most declined, including Samsung Electronics (-1.68%), Samsung Biologics (-1.07%), Hanwha Aerospace (-0.33%), Hyundai Motor (-1.58%), HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (-3.80%), KB Financial Group (-1.81%), Kia (-1.62%), Doosan Enerbility (-3.95%), and Celltrion (-0.80%).

On the same day, the KOSDAQ closed at 801.66, up 0.46% from the previous session. The index started at 793.99, down 0.50% from the day before, but quickly turned upward and maintained its positive momentum.

Foreign investors were net buyers of 160.3 billion won, driving the index higher. In contrast, individual investors and institutions sold 117.2 billion won and 32.3 billion won, respectively.

Sectors showed differentiated performances. Machinery & equipment (1.34%), pharmaceuticals (1.26%), distribution (0.72%), manufacturing (0.63%), non-metals (0.40%), electrical & electronics (0.27%), and chemicals (0.24%) rose in that order, while telecommunications (-3.09%), textiles & apparel (-1.44%), paper & wood (-1.31%), transportation & storage (-1.10%), transportation equipment & parts (-0.67%), construction (-0.65%), entertainment & culture (-0.49%), IT services (-0.34%), and metals (-0.26%) ended lower.

Among the top 10 KOSDAQ stocks by market capitalization, Alteogen (1.03%), Ecopro (0.54%), PharmaResearch (2.45%), Rigakem Bio (0.47%), ABL Bio (6.31%), HLB (2.29%), and Samchundang Pharm (1.63%) posted gains. Ecopro BM (-0.76%), Peptron (-0.32%), and Rainbow Robotics (-0.86%) declined.

Kim Ji-won, a researcher at KB Securities, commented, "Today, the domestic stock market declined, particularly among leading sectors such as shipbuilding and nuclear power, following the conclusion of the Korea-U.S. summit event. As Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole speech is being reassessed and caution grows, it is important to pay attention to the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index on the 29th of this week, nonfarm payrolls on September 5, and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) results on September 11."

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