Foreign Investors Dumped 2 Trillion Won, but Retail Investors and Institutions Held the Line [fn Closing Market Report]

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[Financial News] Domestic stocks closed higher across the board, supported by aggressive buying from retail investors and institutions.
According to the Korea Exchange (KRX), KOSPI ended trading on the 22nd at 7,847.71, up 0.41% from the previous day. In the KOSPI market, retail investors bought a net 1.0626 trillion won, while institutions also purchased 761.8 billion won. Foreign investors sold 1.9229 trillion won worth of KOSPI shares, but institutions and retail investors offset the weakness.
Movements among large-cap stocks were mixed. Samsung Electronics fell 2.34% to 292,500 won and Hyundai Motor Company dropped 1.65% to 655,000 won, while SK hynix was little changed, edging up 0.05% to 1,941,000 won.
By contrast, Samsung Electro-Mechanics surged 11.30% to 1.34 million won. Samsung Life Insurance rose 2.68% to 364,500 won, Doosan Enerbility gained 2.95% to 111,600 won, and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries advanced 1.19% to 680,000 won.
Korea Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) finished at 1,161.13, up 4.99%. Despite a net 865.6 billion won in selling by retail investors, strong buying from foreign investors, who net purchased 597.4 billion won, and institutions, who bought 288 billion won, drove the sharp gain.
The KOSDAQ market jumped by nearly 5% in early trading, triggering a buy-side sidecar at 9:33 a.m. It was the second consecutive day such a measure was activated.
Major KOSDAQ stocks also rallied. ECOPRO BM climbed 10.77% to 216,000 won, EcoPro rose 12.87% to 146,500 won, and Jusung Engineering jumped 20.95% to 224,000 won. Alteogen Inc. gained 3.70% to 364,500 won, while Rainbow Robotics advanced 1.48% to 754,000 won.
Han Ji-young, a researcher at KIWOOM Securities Co., Ltd., analyzed that domestic stocks showed a neutral trend as they absorbed profit-taking after the previous day's sharp KOSPI rally, while news related to US-Iran talks and a wait-and-see mood ahead of the holiday also weighed on sentiment.
fair@fnnews.com Han Young-joon Reporter