KOSPI Bought by Individuals... Seventh Consecutive Day of Gains

by Jang Hyowon

Published 17 Apr.2023 16:02(KST)

The KOSPI index closed higher, supported by individual investors' buying despite strong selling by institutions and foreigners.

On the 17th, the KOSPI index closed at 2,575.91, up 4.42 points (0.17%) from the previous day. The trading volume was 765.64 million shares, with a trading value of 12.58 trillion won.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On this day, the KOSPI index opened lower influenced by the New York stock market's decline due to a sharp rise in expected inflation and hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve (Fed) officials. However, despite a strong dollar and foreign selling during the session, individual buying inflows led to a turnaround and a rise.

In particular, the strength of secondary battery material stocks continued, and with Tesla's earnings announcement approaching this week, individual buying was concentrated. Seokhwan Kim, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, analyzed, "There was clear differentiation among stocks within sectors due to supply-demand imbalances and excessive valuation assessments," adding, "Entertainment stocks showed strength on expectations of improved second-quarter earnings and record highs in album sales and concert attendance driven by the rise of K-pop."

By investor type, institutions and foreigners sold net amounts of 369.8 billion won and 16.9 billion won respectively, while individuals bought a net 385 billion won. Program trading saw net selling of 11.6 billion won in arbitrage trading and 55.8 billion won in non-arbitrage trading.

By sector, the non-metallic minerals sector showed a super-strong gain of 9.2%, followed by machinery up 3.13%, steel and metals 1.97%, paper and wood 1.65%, transportation and warehousing 1.37%, construction 0.99%, and textiles and apparel 0.91%. Conversely, the medical precision sector fell 1.7%, pharmaceuticals -0.98%, finance -0.57%, and services -0.39% were weak.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, performances were mixed. Samsung Electronics rose 0.31%, LG Chem 0.25%, and POSCO Holdings 2.04%. POSCO Future M surged 11.82%, approaching a market capitalization of 30 trillion won. On the other hand, LG Energy Solution fell 0.34%, SK Hynix -0.67%, Samsung Biologics -0.73%, and Samsung SDI -0.92% were weak.

The KOSDAQ index closed at 909.5, up 5.66 points (0.63%) from the previous day. The KOSDAQ index started higher but fell below the 900 mark during the session due to strong selling by institutions, yet closed higher supported by individual buying.

By investor type, institutions and foreigners sold net amounts of 182.7 billion won and 49.1 billion won respectively, while individuals bought a net 246.2 billion won.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, EcoPro BM led the index rise with a 5.95% increase. EcoPro rose 0.98%, L&F 0.64%, and JYP Ent. 3.88%. Meanwhile, Celltrion Healthcare remained flat, while HLB fell 2.3%, Celltrion Pharm -1.83%, and Kakao Games -1.3% showed weakness.

Meanwhile, in the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won/dollar exchange rate closed at 1,311.1 won, up 12.2 won from the previous day.