“Foreign Investors Again...” KOSPI Falls Below 6,000 Intraday Again

[Financial News] The KOSPI fell below the 6,000 mark after the domestic stock market failed to sustain its intraday gains and turned lower.
Foreign investors and individual investors both turned net sellers on the main board, while top market-cap semiconductor stocks, including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, also weakened. The KOSDAQ fell more than 2%, as investor sentiment weakened across the domestic market.
According to the Korea Exchange, as of 3:05 p.m. on the 14th, the KOSPI stood at 5,955.65, down 79.70 points (1.32%) from the previous trading day.
The KOSPI rose early in the session but turned lower as selling increased. It gave up all its gains and fell below the 6,000 mark. The KOSDAQ also fell 22.69 points (2.71%) from the previous trading day to 814.34.
Foreign and individual investors were notably selling in tandem. On the main board, foreign investors net sold 987.9 billion won and individuals net sold 406.7 billion won. Institutions, meanwhile, net bought 694.2 billion won, absorbing the shares on offer, but that was not enough to prevent the index from falling.
On the KOSDAQ, individuals net bought 453.2 billion won, while foreign investors and institutions net sold 291.7 billion won and 170.8 billion won, respectively. Despite individual buying, the KOSDAQ fell more than 2%, reflecting weaker investor sentiment.
Most of the largest companies by market capitalization also fared poorly. Samsung Electronics traded at 231,500 won, down 500 won (0.22%) from the previous trading day. SK hynix fell 34,000 won (2.36%) to 1,409,000 won. Samsung Electronics preferred shares fell 1.61%, and SK Square declined 1.75%. Hyundai Motor and Samsung Biologics also fell 0.79% and 2.99%, respectively.
Some stocks, however, rose despite the broader market decline. LG Energy Solution gained 2.32% to 419,500 won, while Samsung C&T and Samsung Life Insurance rose 4.00% and 4.30%, respectively. Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. and KB Financial Group also advanced. With major stocks, including large-cap semiconductor names, weakening, buying flowed into some sectors, such as financials, making for a mixed market.
Hyundai Motor Securities said foreign selling was a key factor dragging down the domestic stock market, and assessed that attention should focus on when foreign capital might return rather than on the reasons for the selling itself.
Kim Jae-seung, a researcher at Hyundai Motor Securities, said, “With the KOSPI having fallen to the 6,000 mark, this is the time to consider what could trigger foreign investors to return rather than look for reasons behind their net selling.”
Kim said that geopolitical risks in the Middle East, controversy over OpenAI’s revenue, and concerns about Chinese memory-chip maker CMXT catching up technologically were weighing on foreign investors’ sentiment.
Foreign investors’ cumulative net selling of KOSPI stocks this year amounts to about 203 trillion won, with 176 trillion won of net selling concentrated in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix alone, he said. The two stocks account for about 86% of foreign investors’ total net selling.
He said it would be necessary to watch key events for signs of when foreign capital might return. Kim cited Samsung Electronics’ and SK hynix’s earnings announcements in late October, the U.S. midterm elections in early November, and Anthropic’s listing in mid-November as key variables. He forecast that the market’s assessment of the sustainability of memory-chip profits and CMXT’s technological competitiveness would be particularly important when the semiconductor companies report earnings.
He said, “There are no major events in sight that could immediately reverse foreign investors’ net selling,” but forecast that “foreign investors’ net buying could gradually return as the market gets through the events, from the earnings announcements in late October and the U.S. midterm elections in early November to Anthropic’s listing in mid-November.”
The market failed to hold its intraday gains and gave up the KOSPI’s 6,000 mark, once again underscoring the importance of foreign investor flows. The course of the domestic market will likely depend on whether foreign selling subsides and whether large-cap semiconductor stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix can build momentum for a rebound on the back of their earnings outlook.
[email protected] Kang Jung-mo Reporter