Foreign Investors Sell 6 Trillion Won Net... KOSPI Closes Below 7,200

KOSDAQ Also Falls Over 2%
Volatility Increases Ahead of FOMC Minutes and Nvidia Earnings

The Korean stock market closed sharply lower on May 19. The KOSPI index, pressured by foreign selling, fell below the 7,400 mark early in the session and extended its losses to drop below 7,200. The KOSDAQ index also recorded a decline of over 2%.

On this day, the KOSPI closed at 7,271.66, down 244.38 points (3.25%) from the previous trading session. Foreign investors were net sellers of 6.2052 trillion won, dragging the index lower. Individual investors bought a net 5.631 trillion won, while institutional investors purchased 526.4 billion won.

Most of the large-cap stocks by market capitalization ended weaker. In particular, Hyundai Motor, which had recently drawn attention as a robotics stock, experienced a sharp correction, falling 8.90%. Concerns over escalating labor-management conflict caused broad weakness across Hyundai Motor Group stocks, with Hyundai Mobis dropping 8.06% and Kia falling 4.68%.

On the afternoon of the 19th, the exchange rate and the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices were displayed on the electronic board of Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News.

Other notable decliners included SK Square (-6.68%), Doosan Enerbility (-5.44%), SK hynix (-5.16%), Samsung C&T Corporation (-4.76%), HD Hyundai Electric (-4.53%), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (-4.27%), and Samsung SDI (-4.24%). Losses were also seen in Samsung Biologics (-2.89%), HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (-2.76%), Samsung Electronics preferred shares (-2.32%), Samsung Electronics (-1.96%), and LG Energy Solution (-1.96%).

Amid continued difficulties in U.S.-Iran peace negotiations, Hanwha Aerospace was the only stock among the KOSPI's top 10 by market capitalization to close higher, rising 4.81%.

The KOSDAQ index finished at 1,084.36, down 26.73 points (2.41%) from the previous session. Foreign investors were net sellers of 4 billion won, and institutional investors sold a net 65.7 billion won. Individual investors were net buyers of 103.2 billion won.

Among the KOSDAQ's top market cap stocks, Padu rose 9.10%, Caregen gained 7.23%, Peptron advanced 2.72%, Alteogen climbed 2.52%, and Voronoi increased 1.60%. In contrast, Rainbow Robotics (-10.72%), Ligachem Bio (-7.22%), HPSP (-6.13%), ISC (-5.60%), Leeno Industrial (-4.85%), EO Technics (-4.23%), Ecopro BM (-4.20%), Seojin System (-4.12%), and Ecopro (-4.10%) saw sharp declines.

Lim Jungeun, a researcher at KB Securities, commented, "With the release of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes, which decides the U.S. base rate, and earnings announcements from semiconductor company Nvidia ahead, market momentum has weakened, leading to continued profit-taking, especially among foreign investors." He added, "The market is expected to show differentiated trends depending on future momentum from Nvidia's AI semiconductor developments and the outcomes of major macroeconomic events."

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