KOSPI Opens Slightly Lower... Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix Strong

The KOSPI is declining as both foreign investors and institutions are selling large amounts of stocks.

As of 9:15 a.m. on August 8, the KOSPI was trading at 3,222.95, down 0.15% from the previous trading day. On this day, the KOSPI opened at 3,220.58, down 0.22% from the previous day.

The KOSPI is being pulled down as foreign investors and institutions are net sellers. Foreign investors have net sold 135.2 billion won, and institutions have net sold 69.1 billion won, while individual investors have net bought 200.4 billion won.

On the 6th, dealers were working in the dealing room of Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul. On that day, the KOSPI opened at 3,182.06, down 15.94 points (0.50%) from the previous trading day, the KOSDAQ fell 0.27% to 796.48, and the won-dollar exchange rate started the session down 1.0 won at 1,387.3 won. August 6, 2025 Photo by Cho Yongjun

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Most of the top market capitalization stocks are showing weakness.

In particular, Hanwha Aerospace is down 3.33%. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean are also down 0.95% and 1.11%, respectively. KB Financial Group is down 1.3%, and Doosan Enerbility is down 0.76%.

LG Energy Solution (-0.65%), Samsung Biologics (-0.58%), and Celltrion (-0.29%) are also weak.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are up 0.99% and 0.76%, respectively. Despite the lackluster performance of major indices in the New York stock market overnight, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose by about 1.5%, which has had an impact.

LIG Nex1, which announced its second quarter results after the market closed the previous day, is plunging by the mid-10% range. SK Chemicals, which announced its second quarter results in the afternoon the previous day, is also falling sharply by 7%.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ is trading at 810.77, up 0.62%. On this day, the KOSDAQ opened at 806.43, up 0.08% from the previous day.

Top KOSDAQ market capitalization stocks are mixed.

Alteogen is flat, while Peptron (-1.45%) and PharmaResearch (-2.55%) are declining. HLB, LIG ChemBio, and Hugel are only slightly higher.

EcoPro BM is down 0.56%, while EcoPro is slightly higher.

In the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won-dollar exchange rate is trading at 1,381.8 won per dollar, down 4.2 won (0.3%) from the previous day.

Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, explained, "During the session, the market is expected to show more stock-specific movements as it is influenced by news related to tax reform plans such as the major shareholder transfer tax, as well as individual earnings announcements from companies such as NAVER, Dalba Global, and Lotte Chemical."

She added, "Through its August review, MSCI decided to include or exclude certain stocks from the MSCI Korea Index, such as Doosan, Hyosung Heavy Industries, LIG Nex1, CJ CheilJedang, LG Innotek, and SKC. As a result, we expect to see differentiated trends in foreign investor flows and share prices among these stocks."

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