An employee works at the dealing room of Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Monday, as the Kospi — after opening higher — reversed course and barely held the 8,000 line. [Yonhap]
An employee works at the dealing room of Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Monday, as the Kospi — after opening higher — reversed course and barely held the 8,000 line. [Yonhap]

The Kospi barely held the 8,000 line Monday after swinging more than 511 points intraday amid heavy selling by foreign and institutional investors.

The two dominant semiconductor stocks — Samsung Electronics and SK hynix — moved in opposite directions, leaving the market without a clear trend. Foreign investors extended their net selling streak to 12 consecutive sessions, while retail investors absorbed more than 2.6 trillion won ($1.69 billion) in net purchases to prop up the index. Caution ahead of Samsung Electronics' preliminary second-quarter earnings release and a weakening won further dampened sentiment, dragging Kosdaq down more than 2 percent.

According to Korea Exchange, the Kospi closed Monday at 8,051.33, down 37.01 points, or 0.46 percent, from the previous session. The index opened up 98.48 points, or 1.22 percent, at 8,186.82, dipped briefly into negative territory early on, then rebounded to an intraday high of 8,327.26 — a gain of 2.95 percent.

It then reversed into negative territory during the morning session, falling below the 8,000 mark and touching a low of 7,815.53. The index clawed back losses to reclaim the 8,000 line by the close. The gap between the intraday high and low reached 511.73 points.

Foreign investors posted net selling of 1.33 trillion won on the main board, extending their selling streak to 12 straight sessions. Institutions were also net sellers, offloading 1.43 trillion won. Retail investors countered with net purchases of 2.65 trillion won, providing a floor for the index.

The market's inability to pick a direction was widely attributed to the two top semiconductor heavyweights moving in opposite directions, with Samsung Electronics' preliminary second-quarter earnings due Tuesday.

Samsung Electronics closed up 2.75 percent at 318,000 won. The stock opened 3.39 percent higher but at one point slid to 303,000 won before finishing in positive territory. SK hynix fell 3.38 percent to 2.34 million won. It also opened higher but could not recover its losses, ultimately closing lower.

Among other large-cap stocks, SK Square fell 5.92 percent, Samsung Electro-Mechanics dropped 8.09 percent, LG Energy Solution declined 2.21 percent, Samsung Biologics lost 1.13 percent and Hanwha Aerospace shed 1.36 percent. Hyundai Motor rose 2.03 percent, Samsung Life gained 2.74 percent, Samsung C&T advanced 3.69 percent, Kia climbed 5.72 percent and HD Hyundai Heavy edged up 1.04 percent.

Hanwha Ocean surged 8.61 percent ahead of an expected announcement on the contractor for Canada's next submarine program, reflecting market optimism over the company's status as a qualified candidate.

Kosdaq closed at 847.07, down 21.34 points, or 2.46 percent. The index opened down 0.23 percent at 866.40, briefly turned positive to reach 872.12 — up 0.43 percent — early in the session, then reversed and extended its decline through the close.

In the Kosdaq market, foreign investors net sold 40.9 billion won and institutions net sold 226.9 billion won. Retail investors were net buyers of 269.4 billion won.

Most large-cap Kosdaq stocks fell, with Alteogen down 3.07 percent, Ecopro BM off 2.17 percent, Ecopro losing 2.06 percent, Rainbow Robotics declining 2.54 percent and Jusung Engineering dropping 5.66 percent. Some stocks bucked the trend: HLB rose 0.83 percent, EO Technics gained 1.27 percent, Peptron advanced 3.87 percent and Silicon2 climbed 3.32 percent.

The won weakened against the dollar. The won-dollar rate stood at 1,530.3 won as of 3:30 p.m. in the Seoul foreign exchange market, up 4.7 won from the previous session.


th5@heraldcorp.com