KOSPI pares afternoon losses, recovers 5,400 level [fn afternoon market]

[Financial News] The KOSPI, which opened lower, pared its losses during the session and recovered the 5,400 level. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which were weak early in the session, were also recovering, with Samsung Electronics little changed and SK hynix up around 2%.
As of 2:09 p.m. on the 23rd, the KOSPI was at 5,495.82, down 37.95 points (-0.60%) from the previous trading day. It was trading at that level. The index opened at 5,403.17, down 130.60 points (2.36%), and at one point early in the session had fallen by 4% or more.
Despite foreign investors’ net selling of at least 1 trillion won, buying by individuals and institutions appeared to be supporting the market. Foreign investors were net sellers of 1.08192 trillion won, while individuals and institutions were net buyers of 423.846 billion won and 628.405 billion won, respectively.
By sector, pharmaceuticals (+3.73%), medical and precision instruments (+1.71%), and general services (+1.20%) were strong. In contrast, metals (-3.92%), chemicals (-3.47%), machinery and equipment (-3.15%), transportation equipment and parts (-2.83%), and telecommunications (-2.37%) were weak.
Among the top stocks by market capitalization, Samsung Electronics (-0.93%), SK hynix (+2.86%), and SK Square (+0.67%), ranked first through third by market cap, were trading better than early in the session. Samsung SDI (-5.4%), Doosan Enerbility (-4.2%), and Samsung Electro-Mechanics (-4.0%) were weak, while Samsung Biologics (+8.1%) and Samsung Life Insurance (+0.8%) were firm or little changed.
The KOSDAQ was trading at 745.88, down 14.23 points (1.86%) from the previous trading day. Foreign investors and institutions were net sellers of 32.356 billion won and 57.368 billion won, respectively, while individuals were net buyers of 90.098 billion won.
All sectors were weak or little changed. Declines were pronounced in finance (-4.13%), publishing and media reproduction (-3.55%), machinery and equipment (-2.93%), and electrical and electronic equipment (-2.88%).
Among the top stocks by market capitalization, all of the top three—Alteogen (-3.6%), EcoPro (-5.9%), and EcoPro BM (-5.8%)—were weak. Semiconductor-related stocks such as SIMMTECH (-5.5%), LEENO Industrial (-5.4%), and ILSUNG (-4.9%) were also down around 5%, while Rainbow Robotics (-3.8%) and ROBOTIS (-3.8%) were each down more than 3%.
[email protected] Joo Won-gyu Reporter