KOSPI pares losses and recovers the 5,200 level as retail investors buy aggressively [FN Morning Market Briefing]

[The Financial News] Weighed down by escalating geopolitical risks in the Middle East, the KOSPI had fallen more than 5% in morning trading. However, strong buying by retail investors helped the index trim its losses and reclaim the 5,200 level.
According to the Korea Exchange, as of 11:02 a.m. on the 30th, the KOSPI was trading at 5,242.54, down 195.91 points (3.60%) from the previous session. The index had opened at 5,181.80, a drop of 4.73%, and at one point during the session slid to as low as 5,151.22, down 5.29%.
In the Stock Market Division of the Korea Exchange, retail investors are net buyers of 1.3965 trillion won, while foreign investors and institutions are net sellers of 1.2935 trillion won and 252 billion won, respectively.
By sector, only paper and wood products are in positive territory, up 0.80%. Securities (-6.12%), machinery and equipment (-4.57%), and electricity and gas (-4.39%) are among the sectors posting declines.
Among large-cap stocks, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (-6.72%), Mirae Asset Securities (-6.71%), and Samsung C&T (-6.13%) are all sharply lower. Major semiconductor names such as Samsung Electronics (-3.78%) and SK hynix (-5.31%) are also weak.
At the same time, KOSDAQ (Korea Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) was trading at 1,102.58, down 38.93 points (3.41%) from the previous session. Retail investors have purchased 196.5 billion won, while foreign investors and institutions have sold 123.9 billion won and 23.7 billion won, respectively.
Cho Joon-gi, a researcher at SK Securities, said, "As geopolitical risks show no sign of easing, global stock markets are collectively underperforming," and added, "On top of that, negative news has hit memory semiconductor stocks, which had been the sole leaders until geopolitical risks intensified, causing the steepest declines in the domestic market."


koreanbae@fnnews.com Bae Han-geul Reporter