“The 5,500 mark must hold” ... KOSPI sees tug-of-war between retail investors and institutions, foreign investors over trading flows [fn Afternoon Market]

[Financial News] The KOSPI extended its intraday losses, falling as low as the 5,400 mark, but is holding above 5,500 on retail buying.
As of 2:12 p.m. on the 20th, the KOSPI was trading at 5,553.56, down 214.45 points (3.72%) from the previous trading day. It opened at 5,733.57, down 34.44 points (0.60%) from the previous session, then fell as much as 4.76% to 5,493.24 before trimming its losses in the afternoon.
On the securities market, institutions and foreign investors were net sellers of 846 billion won and 782.2 billion won, respectively. Retail investors and other corporations, by contrast, were net buyers of 1.0545 trillion won and 573.7 billion won, respectively.
Most of the largest stocks by market capitalization were down. Samsung Electronics (-3.67%), SK Hynix (-5.09%), SK Square (-5.26%), LG Energy Solution (-4.51%), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (-1.54%), Samsung Biologics (-3.08%) and Hyundai Motor (5.98%) were among the weak performers.
By sector, the largest declines were in transportation equipment and parts (-7.33%), medical and precision instruments (-6.38%), chemicals (-6.28%), metals (-6.04%), machinery and equipment (-5.40%) and manufacturing (-4.71%), in that order.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ was trading at 786, down 22.89 points (2.83%) from the previous session. It opened at 805.37, down 3.52 points (0.44%) from the previous trading day, then fell below the 800 mark early in the session.
On the KOSDAQ, foreign investors and institutions were net sellers of 242.2 billion won and 64.5 billion won, respectively. Retail investors were net buyers of 310.5 billion won.

[email protected] Lim Sang-hyeok Reporter