Index sinks as low as 6,800s during trading as institutions, foreigners sell in tandem

Samsung Electronics, SK hynix both weaken; Kosdaq falls more than 1 percent

Futures-options expiration, US CPI concerns in focus: 'time to check whether 7,000 line holds'

Employees monitor stock prices and exchange rates at Hana Bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, Thursday. The Kospi opened at 7,038.85 that day, down 12.79 points, or 0.18 percent, from the previous session. (Yonhap)
Employees monitor stock prices and exchange rates at Hana Bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, Thursday. The Kospi opened at 7,038.85 that day, down 12.79 points, or 0.18 percent, from the previous session. (Yonhap)

The Kospi, which closed above the 7,000 mark Wednesday for the first time in 33 trading sessions, slipped back into the 6,900 range just a day later. Concerns over rising global oil prices and long-term US Treasury yields persisted. Combined selling by institutions and foreign investors on the day of the simultaneous expiration of futures and options contracts dragged down the index.

As of 10:50 a.m. Thursday, the Kospi stood at 6,939.14, down 112.50 points, or 1.60 percent, from the previous session, according to the Korea Exchange. The index opened at 7,038.85, down 12.79 points, or 0.18 percent, before extending its losses. It fell as low as 6,898.45 during the session, briefly slipping below the 6,900 line, before recovering some of the decline.

On the main bourse, institutions and foreign investors were net sellers of 781.8 billion won ($584 million) and 496 billion won worth of shares, respectively. Individual investors were net buyers of 768.7 billion won.

Samsung Electronics shares traded at 265,000 won, down 4,500 won, or 1.67 percent, from the previous session, while SK hynix fell 26,000 won, or 1.40 percent, to 1.83 million won.

SK Square (-2.55 percent), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (-3.35 percent), LG Energy Solution (-2.29 percent), Hyundai Motor (-1.42 percent) and Samsung Biologics (-2.07 percent) also declined. KB Financial Group was the only major gainer among top-cap shares, up 0.23 percent.

Overnight, Wall Street also fell for a third consecutive session, weighed down by rising oil prices and long-term interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.77 percent, the S&P 500 lost 0.48 percent and the NASDAQ Composite dropped 0.64 percent Wednesday (local time).

Oil prices rose on uncertainty stemming from the Middle East, while long-term interest rates climbed after the US Treasury Department's bond buyback fell short of market expectations. This weighed on investor sentiment. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note rose to around 4.8 percent.

AI-related shares, however, fared relatively well. Micron gained 2.75 percent and SK hynix's American depositary receipts jumped 7.05 percent after Meta unveiled its agentic AI model, Muse. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index also rose 0.37 percent.

On top of external factors, the local market is also digesting supply-and-demand volatility stemming from Thursday's simultaneous expiration of futures and options contracts. It also faces caution ahead of the release of US consumer price data for August.

The Kosdaq also weakened. As of the same time, the index stood at 818.30, down 12.07 points, or 1.45 percent, from the previous session. It opened at 825.06, down 5.31 points, or 0.64 percent.

On the Kosdaq, individual investors were net buyers of 244.6 billion won worth of shares. Foreign investors and institutions were net sellers of 189.7 billion won and 54.3 billion won, respectively.

Among major Kosdaq-listed shares by market capitalization, Alteogen (-3.40 percent), Ecopro (-4.03 percent), Ecopro BM (-4.00 percent) and Rainbow Robotics (-1.35 percent) declined. Wonik IPS (-1.67 percent), EO Technics (-1.28 percent) and Simtek (-1.06 percent) also declined. Jusung Engineering (1.94 percent) and Robotis (2.10 percent) were the only gainers.

Market watchers say that with the Kospi closing above 7,000 Wednesday, the key question now is whether the 7,000 line will hold as a support level.

Han Ji-young, a research analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said, "While the task before was whether the market could break through the 7,000 resistance line, we have now moved a step forward to checking whether that level can actually convert into a support line." Han added, "Even if the market faces macro-driven volatility this week or next week, there is no need to interpret it as damaging the overall market trend."


hajun825@heraldcorp.com