KOSPI Hits New Intraday High, Approaches 9,000 Milestone

The KOSPI is inching closer to the historic 9,000-point mark after hitting a new intraday high today (June 18).

As of 9:30 a.m., the KOSPI stood at 8,932.94, up 68.70 points (0.78%).

The index opened at 8,884.92, up 20.68 points (0.23%), and climbed as high as 8,975.52, setting a new intraday record.

The gains have narrowed slightly, leaving the index about 24 points shy of the 9,000 threshold.

The previous intraday high was 8,933.62, recorded on June 2.

Around the time the intraday high was reached, institutions and individuals were net buyers, but shortly after, institutions joined foreign investors in net selling.

Foreigners and institutions are net selling 661 billion won and 77.9 billion won, respectively, while individuals are net buying 757.5 billion won.

In the KOSPI 200 futures market, only foreign investors are net buying, totaling 255.3 billion won, while institutions and individuals are net selling 184.1 billion won and 73.4 billion won, respectively.

In the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won-dollar exchange rate opened at 1,525.0 won, up 11.6 won from the previous trading session.

Although the U.S. Federal Reserve sent a more "hawkish" (monetary tightening) signal than the market expected following the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, the market appears to be absorbing this as it was already priced in.

According to the revised economic projections from Fed officials overnight, they expect one interest rate hike within the year (median of 3.8%), marking a shift from the path of one rate cut projected in the March dot plot.

Furthermore, the dot plot showed that 9 out of 18 officials expect at least one rate hike this year, with 6 of them signaling two or more hikes.

New York stock indices all closed lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.97%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.21% and 1.34%, respectively.

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