KOSPI plunges 5.28%, slips below 5,400; KOSDAQ also falls in the 5% range [fn Market Close]

[Financial News] The KOSPI fell below 5,400, weighed down by foreign net selling in the 3.8 trillion won range. As concerns about tighter data center regulations grew after the U.S. midterm elections, foreign selling was concentrated in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. The KOSDAQ also fell more than 5%, and sell-sidecars were triggered one after another in both markets during the session.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 5th, the KOSPI closed at 5,383.80, down 300.00 points (5.28%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 5,580.09, down 1.82% from the previous session, and briefly recovered to the 5,500 level in the morning, but its losses widened again in the afternoon. During the session, it fell as low as 5,336.88, with its decline reaching 6.10%.
According to KB Securities’ closing tally, foreign investors net sold 3.8316 trillion won on the main board, marking a fifth consecutive trading day of net selling. Individuals and institutions net bought 2.6978 trillion won and 934.8 billion won, respectively. Foreign investors net sold 1.5203 trillion won worth of SK hynix shares and 1.1626 trillion won worth of Samsung Electronics shares. Net sales of the two stocks amounted to about 70% of foreign investors’ total net sales on the main board.
By sector, medical and precision instruments (-11.48%), electrical and electronic equipment (-8.53%), and machinery and equipment (-5.36%) posted the steepest declines. By contrast, pharmaceuticals (4.12%), telecommunications (2.44%), and food, beverages and tobacco (2.40%) rose.
On the main board, a sell-sidecar was triggered at around 10:16 a.m. after KOSPI 200 futures prices plunged. A sell-sidecar was also triggered on the KOSDAQ at 2:27 p.m. At the time, KOSDAQ 150 futures and the KOSDAQ 150 index were down 6.07% and 5.43%, respectively. As a result, sell orders in program trading on the KOSDAQ were suspended from taking effect for five minutes.
The KOSDAQ closed at 678.41, down 36.54 points (5.11%) from the previous trading day. It fell as low as 673.38 during the session, with its decline reaching 5.81%. Individuals net bought 198.7 billion won, while foreign investors and institutions net sold 104.1 billion won and 101.5 billion won, respectively.
Lim Jeong-eun, a researcher at KB Securities, said, “Samsung Electronics and SK hynix led the decline in the KOSPI, while semiconductor materials, parts and equipment led the decline in the KOSDAQ,” and assessed that “whether foreign investor flows improve is expected to be a key factor in determining the direction of the indices.”

[email protected] Lee Jeong-hwa Reporter