"Today, It’s KOSDAQ"... Biotech Rally Lifts the Index to 860 Despite KOSPI’s Break Below 7,000 [fn Morning Market]

[Financial News] The KOSDAQ rose to the 860 level. The gain was attributed to a broad rally in biotech stocks following news that HLB’s U.S. subsidiary had received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Meanwhile, the KOSPI Composite Index fell below 7,000 as tensions in the Middle East flared up again.
According to the Korea Exchange (KRX), the KOSDAQ was trading at 860.36 as of 9:50 a.m. on the 28th, up 15.88 points (1.88%) from the previous session. The index opened at 845.48, up 1.00 point (0.12%), and then extended its gains.
Foreign investors and institutional investors led the KOSDAQ’s rise with net purchases of 78.3 billion won and 12.4 billion won, respectively. Retail investors, however, recorded net selling of 87.3 billion won.
Biotech stocks broadly advanced after all HLB Group shares hit the daily upper limit. HLB (29.95%), HLB Pharmaceutical (30.00%), HLB BioStep (30.00%), HLB innoVation (29.46%), and HLB Life Science (29.96%) were among the stocks trading higher. Other major KOSDAQ biotech stocks, including Alteogen (3.20%), Sam Chun Dang Pharm (1.99%), PharmaResearch (0.16%), and LigaChem Biosciences (2.35%), also rose.
Buying spread across biotech stocks after HLB announced on the 24th that its U.S. subsidiary, Elevar Therapeutics, had received FDA approval for LYRFIGTU, a treatment for cholangiocarcinoma.
Huh Hye-min, a researcher at KIWOOM Securities, explained, "The pharmaceutical and biotech sector has continued to suffer from bad-news fatigue amid an unfavorable external environment and declining credibility, so it now appears largely unfazed by the emergence of bad news." She added, "We are likely to see the sector gradually begin responding to positive news."
At the same time, the KOSPI Composite Index was trading at 6,998.62, down 82.3 points (1.16%) from the previous session. The index opened at 7,057.86, down 23.06 points (0.33%), and then extended its losses.
On the main stock market, foreign investors and institutional investors were recording net selling of 500.1 billion won and 56.6 billion won, respectively. Other corporations and retail investors were making net purchases of 278.5 billion won and 276.9 billion won, respectively.
Large-cap semiconductor stocks were particularly weak. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix were down 2.98% and 3.38%, respectively. Samsung Electronics preferred shares (-4.32%), SK Square (-5.29%), and SK (-3.76%) were also trading lower.
The weakness was attributed to increased geopolitical uncertainty as tensions between the United States and Iran escalated again. U.S. President Donald Trump said on the 26th, local time, that he had rejected Iran’s proposal for a "7-day plan" to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Jeong Hee-chan, a researcher at Samsung Futures, said, "Geopolitical tensions are escalating again after President Trump rejected Iran’s peace proposal over the weekend, while Iran is holding to its original proposal." He added, "International oil prices also rose as a result, and index futures opened lower today."
[email protected] Im Sang-hyeok Reporter