KOSPI Hits Record High of 8,864; Foreigners Turn Net Sellers

Today (June 17), the KOSPI successfully rebounded to reclaim the 8,800 level.

Today, the KOSPI closed at 8,864.24, up 137.64 points (1.58%), breaking its previous record closing high of 8,801.49 set on June 2.

The index opened at 8,622.13, down 104.47 points (1.20%), and fell as low as 8,605.66 (-1.39%) early in the session.

However, the KOSPI turned upward in earnest after lunchtime, at one point rising to 8,872.18 (1.67%).

The all-time intraday high was 8,933.62, recorded on June 2.

As of 3:30 p.m. today, the Korean won was trading at 1,513.4 won against the U.S. dollar in the Seoul foreign exchange market, up 1.8 won from the previous session's close.

The turnaround was largely driven by strong buying from both retail and institutional investors.

Retail and institutional investors net purchased 539.4 billion won and 581.8 billion won, respectively, today.

On the other hand, foreign investors snapped their three-day net buying streak, net selling 997.2 billion won on this day.

In the KOSPI 200 futures market, foreign and retail investors net sold 521.9 billion won and 55.4 billion won, respectively, while institutional investors net bought 531.4 billion won.

The market appears to be digesting the caution that had built up ahead of the announcement of the U.S. Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting results on June 17 (local time).

Lee Kyoung-min, a researcher at Daishin Securities, noted, "Although major global countries are strengthening their stance on interest rate hikes, international oil prices fell significantly due to the conclusion of negotiations to end the war between the U.S. and Iran, easing concerns over energy-driven inflationary pressures." He added, "This will bolster the position of (the new Fed Chair) Kevin Warsh, who has argued for the possibility of rate cuts driven by productivity gains from the spread of AI."

He added, "If a 'dovish' (monetary easing) stance from (the Fed Chair) emerges, there is a possibility that investor sentiment will surge once again."

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rose 1.02% and 5.84%, respectively.

In particular, SK Hynix surpassed 2.5 million won for the first time, closing at 2,521,000 won, breaking its previous record high of 2,407,000 won set on June 2.

SK Hynix's market capitalization increased by nearly 100 trillion won on this day alone to reach 1,796 trillion won, closely chasing Samsung Electronics.

Samsung Electronics' market capitalization stands at 2,025 trillion won.

SK Square rose 6.33%, and other high-cap stocks also increased, including Samsung Electronics (preferred stock) (1.12%), LG Energy Solution (1.34%), and Samsung Life Insurance (3.71%).

SK Square at one point rose 7.40%, hitting a new 52-week high.

The rise is analyzed to be driven by growing expectations that SK Square, which holds about a 20% stake in SK Hynix, will benefit following reports that SK Hynix is pushing for a shareholder return program worth 100 trillion won.

By sector, electrical and electronics (2.75%), entertainment and culture (2.15%), insurance (2.14%), and manufacturing (2.04%) showed gains in the 2% range, while pharmaceuticals (1.82%), textiles and apparel (1.51%), and electricity and gas (1.23%) also rose.

However, a significant number of sectors declined, including construction (-5.57%), metals (-2.77%), general services (-2.65%), telecommunications and retail (-1.97% each), securities (-1.94%), and chemicals (-1.06%).

The number of advancing stocks today was also limited to 349, outnumbered by 526 declining stocks.

The junior Kosdaq index opened at 1,019.88, up 1.20 points (0.12%), and closed at 1,031.96, up 13.28 points (1.30%).

While retail and institutional investors net sold 20.2 billion won and 15.3 billion won, respectively, foreign investors alone net purchased 28.5 billion won.

Among the top market cap stocks, all rose except for Jusung Engineering (-2.87%) and Leeno Industrial (flat).

ABL Bio rose 9.73%.

ABL Bio stimulated investor sentiment by announcing that Givastomig (ABL111), a bispecific antibody immunotherapy it is jointly developing with U.S. biotech firm NovaBridge Biosciences, has received Fast Track designation from the FDA.

Today, the trading volume on the main KOSPI market and the junior Kosdaq market was tallied at 34.8374 trillion won and 9.6581 trillion won, respectively.

The total trading volume in the pre-market and main market of Nextrade, an alternative trading system (ATS), reached 24.3253 trillion won.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.