Kospi opens higher, reclaims 7,000 line
Retail investors buy as foreigners, institutions sell
Samsung Electronics, SK hynix climb together, lead gains
The Kospi rose in early trading, attempting to hold above the 7,000 mark, as strength in US semiconductor stocks offset geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Large-cap chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix led the index's gains.
According to the Korea Exchange, the Kospi opened at 6,972.87 on Wednesday, up 18.35 points, or 0.26 percent, from the previous session. It has been fluctuating around the 7,000 level as it tries to settle above that threshold — a milestone market watchers have dubbed "chilcheonpi," or Kospi 7,000.
On the Kospi, retail investors were net buyers of 89.8 billion won ($66.9 million) worth of shares. Foreign investors and institutions — which had posted net buying for four consecutive sessions — turned net sellers, offloading 97.8 billion won and 48 billion won worth of shares, respectively. This marked the first time in five trading days that retail investors have led the buying activity. Other corporate investors were net buyers of 55 billion won worth of shares.
Overnight on Wall Street, all three major US indexes fell amid fallout from military clashes in the Middle East, but semiconductor-related stocks bucked the trend.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.18 percent from the previous session, while the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite fell 0.58 percent and 0.32 percent, respectively.
By contrast, Intel jumped 9.05 percent, AMD 5.90 percent, Broadcom 2.98 percent and Seagate 6.49 percent, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up 1.30 percent. SK hynix's American depositary receipts also surged 4.83 percent.
That strength carried over to the domestic market, where South Korea's two chip heavyweights also advanced — Samsung Electronics gained 0.19 percent and SK hynix 1.51 percent. SK Square, Samsung Electro-Mechanics and LG Energy Solution also rose, up 0.09 percent, 2.48 percent and 0.43 percent, respectively. Samsung C&T, KB Financial Group and Samsung Life fell, down 0.26 percent, 0.23 percent and 1.14 percent, respectively.
The Kosdaq extended its gains as well, opening at 815.06, up 3.18 points, or 0.39 percent, from the previous session, and widening its advance from there. Foreign investors were net buyers of 96.5 billion won worth of shares, while retail investors and institutions were net sellers of 86.6 billion won and 9.5 billion won, respectively.
Among the index's top market-cap stocks, Ecopro rose 1.85 percent, Ecopro BM 2.96 percent and Jusung Engineering 5.09 percent, while Alteogen and Silicon2 declined 1.08 percent and 1.51 percent, respectively.
th5@heraldcorp.com
