KOSPI Holds Above 7,000 Despite ‘Quadruple Witching’ and Foreign Selling Rush [fn Market Close]

[Financial News] The KOSPI Composite Index held above the 7,000 level as buying by other market participants offset selling by foreign investors on the simultaneous expiration day for domestic stock-index futures and options.
According to the Korea Exchange (KRX) on the 10th, the KOSPI Composite Index closed at 7,033.92, down 17.72 points, or 0.25%, from the previous session. It opened at 7,038.85, down 12.79 points, or 0.18%, from the previous session, and fell as much as 2.17% to 6,898.45 before narrowing its losses in the afternoon.
Foreign investors led the decline in the main bourse, posting net sales of 2.547 trillion won. However, other corporations, which focused on buying back their own shares, posted net purchases of 1.6671 trillion won. Institutions and retail investors also recorded net purchases of 511.8 billion won and 366.7 billion won, respectively, cushioning the decline.
Among the large-cap stocks by market capitalization, Samsung Electronics (-0.19%), SK hynix (-0.16%), SK Square (-0.26%), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (-0.28%), LG Energy Solution (-1.62%), and Samsung Biologics (-2.00%) weakened. Hyundai Motor (0.26%), Samsung Life Insurance (1.98%), Samsung C&T (0.93%), KB Financial Group (0.81%), and Hanwha Aerospace (1.91%) advanced.
By sector, electricity and gas (-2.02%), pharmaceuticals (-1.52%), chemicals (-1.42%), telecommunications (-1.35%), machinery and equipment (-1.03%), and entertainment and culture (-0.87%) declined. Medical and precision instruments (2.25%), insurance (1.64%), general services (1.33%), nonmetallic minerals (0.93%), paper and wood (0.56%), and textiles and apparel (0.51%) rose.
The market declined as geopolitical uncertainty stemming from the Middle East intensified and international oil prices surged. The weakness was compounded by “quadruple witching day,” when domestic stock-index futures and options expire simultaneously. However, buying centered on other corporations emerged in the afternoon, helping limit the index’s decline.
Kang Jin-hyuk, a researcher at Shinhan Investment & Securities, explained, “The KOSPI declined as foreign selling emerged while international oil prices remained high amid the continuing conflict in the Middle East. Supply-demand flows from ETF rebalancing also played a role, along with quadruple witching day and the Korea Exchange’s regular sector-index changes.”
The KOSDAQ (Korea Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) closed at 836.92, up 6.55 points, or 0.79%, from the previous session. It opened at 825.06, down 5.31 points, or 0.64%, before turning higher in the afternoon.
Institutional investors drove the KOSDAQ’s advance by purchasing shares worth 1.3052 trillion won. Foreign investors and retail investors, however, sold shares worth 1.0535 trillion won and 248.3 billion won, respectively.

[email protected] Lim Sang-hyuk Reporter