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KOSPI Falls 0.85% as Foreigners Sell KRW 1.57 Trillion, While KOSDAQ Rebounds

작성자:K jumma 마지막 수정일:

The KOSPI fell 0.85% to 6,627.26 as foreign investors sold a net KRW 1.5735 trillion. The KOSDAQ moved in the opposite direction, rising 0.70% to 812.41. The split was not a simple growth-versus-value story. It reflected a rotation away from large-cap index exposure and into a small group of catalyst-driven themes.

KOSPI failed to hold its intraday recovery

The benchmark opened at 6,659.25, rallied as high as 6,715.46 and then fell to 6,582.20 before trimming its loss. It has now declined for four consecutive sessions, with a cumulative drop of roughly 6%. Foreign investors sold KRW 1.5735 trillion and institutions sold KRW 903.8 billion. Retail investors bought KRW 831.9 billion, while other corporations absorbed KRW 1.643 trillion, consistent with corporate treasury-share demand helping to cushion the decline.

Breadth remained poor: only 253 KOSPI stocks advanced while 624 declined. Turnover fell to KRW 16.25 trillion from KRW 21.58 trillion in the previous session. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix slipped only 0.20% and 0.41%, respectively, as bargain hunting emerged after the prior day’s selloff. Yet the absence of a durable institutional buyer prevented a broader recovery.

Three macro prices controlled the session

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield moved above 5%, Brent settled at USD 105.68 and WTI at USD 101.39. USD/KRW closed at 1,359.4, up 12.1 won. For Korean equities, this is a difficult combination: higher rates increase the discount rate applied to long-duration growth, expensive oil worsens import costs and a weaker won raises the currency risk for foreign investors.

The debate among global AI leaders about slowing development also remained a psychological overhang for semiconductors. Korea had already absorbed much of the shock in the previous session, which limited further declines in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. That was a reduction in selling intensity, however, not evidence of a renewed uptrend.

KOSDAQ’s gain was selective, not broad

Foreign and institutional investors bought a net KRW 24.1 billion and KRW 110.8 billion in the KOSDAQ, while retail investors sold KRW 139.8 billion. The index briefly rose more than 2% to 824.37 but gave back much of the gain by the close. More stocks declined than advanced, 842 versus 788. The positive index therefore overstated the strength of the average stock.

Where capital moved

The clearest rotation was into batteries. President Trump’s public criticism of Ford’s partnerships with Chinese companies revived expectations that non-China suppliers could gain share. LG Energy Solution rose 3.98%, Samsung SDI 2.82%, EcoPro 3.56% and EcoPro BM 2.98%. The simultaneous move across cells and materials made this the session’s most coherent leadership group.

Biotech strength was led by HLB, which said a cGMP issue at a partner manufacturing site—central to an earlier U.S. approval delay for its liver-cancer therapy—had been resolved. The shares surrendered much of an early spike but still closed 6.92% higher. The fade from the intraday high means the regulatory event still needs confirmation, but HLB materially supported the KOSDAQ.

Physical AI and robotics also attracted high-beta capital. Rainbow Robotics gained 3.21%, while actuator and gear-related names posted stronger individual moves. This looked more like tactical rotation out of mega-cap AI semiconductors than a broad fundamental rerating of the robotics sector.

A fourth pocket was stablecoin infrastructure. Ahead of a procedural vote on the U.S. CLARITY Act, ATON and Hancom With climbed 29.84% and 29.78% to their daily limits. The price action was powerful, but the theme remains highly dependent on policy headlines and follow-through volume.

KSI view: investors repriced risk rather than abandoned it

The KOSPI decline reflected a higher macro discount rate more than a sudden collapse in Korean earnings. The KOSDAQ rebound, meanwhile, did not mark the return of broad risk appetite. Investors paid for names with an identifiable catalyst and avoided passive exposure to sectors most sensitive to rates, oil and the currency.

The next session will be driven first by the FOMC outcome and whether the U.S. 10-year yield remains above 5%. Oil and USD/KRW around 1,360 are the second test. If those variables continue higher, foreign selling in large-cap Korea may persist. If they stabilize and foreign futures selling eases, batteries and the better-supported KOSDAQ growth names could lead the next rebound. The critical confirmation would be improving breadth and foreign flows, not simply a one-day rise in the index.

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