KOSPI ends slightly lower as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix recover; KOSDAQ jumps more than 8% [Market Close]

[Financial News] The KOSPI ended slightly lower after Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix narrowed their losses late in the session. In contrast, the KOSDAQ rebounded more than 8% for the first time in three trading days, led by rotation into secondary battery and biotech stocks.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 29th, the KOSPI closed at 8,394.65, down 16.56 points, or 0.20%, from the previous session. The index opened 0.91% lower at 8,334.28 and at one point fell as much as 3.37% to 8,127.99, but it trimmed its losses later in the day.
On the main board, individual investors and institutions bought a net 4.5963 trillion won and 2.9329 trillion won, respectively, while foreigners sold a net 7.7557 trillion won.
By sector, construction rose 10.19%, medical and precision equipment gained 8.94%, and chemicals advanced 8.83%. Insurance fell 3.24%, electrical and electronic equipment dropped 2.04%, and distribution declined 1.31%.
Among the largest-cap stocks, LG Energy Solution rose 19.46%, Samsung SDI gained 11.65%, and Samsung Biologics climbed 8.08%. Samsung Life Insurance fell 5.09%, Samsung C&T dropped 4.75%, and SK Square lost 3.78%.
The KOSDAQ closed at 920.57, up 69.20 points, or 8.13%, from the previous session. Foreign investors and institutions bought a net 38.2 billion won and 503.8 billion won, respectively, while individual investors sold a net 526.5 billion won.
At 9:28 a.m. that day, the Korea Exchange triggered a temporary suspension of program buy orders in the KOSDAQ market, known as a buy-side sidecar. It was the 11th buy-side sidecar this year and the 16th sidecar event overall, including sell-side sidecars.
At the time the sidecar was triggered, the KOSDAQ 150 Index futures were up 96.20 points, or 6.18%, from the previous session at 1,650.50, while the spot index stood at 1,636.63, up 95.86 points, or 6.22%.
KB Securities researcher Lim Jeong-eun said, "U.S. stocks fell mainly on technology shares as reports of OpenAI's delayed initial public offering (IPO) and concerns over weaker memory demand following Apple's price increases continued to weigh on sentiment. Domestic stocks also saw selling pressure centered on semiconductors, but Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix narrowed their losses late in the session." She added, "The KOSDAQ, which fell more than 11% last week, rebounded sharply after three trading days as rotation continued into biotech and secondary battery stocks, and the share of rising stocks reached 86.07%, the highest level since March 5 this year."

koreanbae@fnnews.com Bae Han-geul Reporter