KOSPI Rises 0.90% in Early Trading... KOSDAQ Also Slightly Up

KOSPI Rises to 5,536.81 on Individual and Institutional Net Buying
KOSDAQ Up to 1,153.03 on Individual Net Buying
More Decliners Among Top KOSDAQ Market Cap Stocks

The domestic stock market saw a slight rise in early trading.

Amid growing concerns over the prolonged situation in the Middle East, on the 16th, employees at the Seoul Hana Bank headquarters dealing room are monitoring the stock market and exchange rates as the KOSPI started by recovering the 5500 level. On this day, the KOSPI opened at 5510.82, up 23.58 points (0.43%) from the previous trading day. March 16, 2026, Photo by Cho Yongjun

As of 9:09 a.m. on March 16, the KOSPI index was trading at 5,536.81, up 49.57 points (0.90%) from the previous session.

By investor type, buying by institutions and individuals is offsetting selling by foreign investors. Institutions recorded a net purchase of 66.7 billion won, while individuals net bought 33.6 billion won. In contrast, foreign investors recorded a net sale of 95.1 billion won.

By sector, the market showed mixed performance. Securities (+2.23%), electrical and electronics (+2.10%), entertainment and culture (+1.30%), manufacturing (+1.29%), and medical precision instruments (+1.09%) rose, while transportation and storage (+0.47%), telecommunications (+0.38%), finance (+0.26%), and construction (+0.20%) also advanced. On the other hand, pharmaceuticals (-1.41%), textiles and apparel (-1.15%), chemicals (-0.83%), paper and wood (-0.78%), electricity and gas (-0.65%), and IT services (-0.50%) declined.

Among the top 20 KOSPI companies by market capitalization, Mirae Asset Securities (+3.47%), SK Hynix (+3.08%), Doosan Enerbility (+2.72%), SK Square (+2.62%), Samsung Electronics (+2.23%), Hanwha Aerospace (+1.95%), and Kia (+0.37%) saw share price gains. Conversely, Celltrion (-1.70%), Naver (-1.68%), Samsung Biologics (-1.38%), HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (-1.34%), Shinhan Financial Group (-1.10%), Samsung Life Insurance (-0.69%), and Hyundai Motor (-0.58%) declined.

The KOSDAQ was trading at 1,153.03, up 0.07 points (0.01%) from the previous session.

By investor type, individual investors showed strong buying, with a net purchase of 92.5 billion won. In contrast, foreign investors and institutions recorded net sales of 78.0 billion won and 9.3 billion won, respectively.

By sector, more sectors were down than up. Other manufacturing (+1.77%), IT services (+0.75%), distribution (+0.57%), machinery and equipment (+0.22%), and transportation and storage (+0.13%) rose, while textiles and apparel (-3.62%), general services (-1.76%), telecommunications (-1.34%), pharmaceuticals (-0.77%), construction (-0.73%), publishing and media reproduction (-0.69%), transportation equipment parts (-0.66%), medical precision instruments (-0.52%), paper and wood (-0.42%), and finance (-0.40%) were weak.

Among the top 20 KOSDAQ companies by market capitalization, the market showed mixed performance. Peptron (+9.56%), ISC (+6.96%), Wooree Technology (+5.32%), Pearl Abyss (+3.19%), Wonik IPS (+2.61%), and EO Technics (+1.83%) saw share price increases. On the other hand, Voronoi (-4.54%), D&D Pharmatech (-3.68%), Samchundang Pharm (-3.63%), Aimed Bio (-2.16%), Ecopro BM (-1.93%), and Rainbow Robotics (-1.20%) declined.

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