SEOUL, April 22 (AJP) - The South Korean stock market opened sharply higher on Wednesday, with the benchmark KOSPI hitting a fresh record, before quickly surrendering gains as geopolitical uncertainty weighed on sentiment.
The KOSPI rose to a record 6,401.97 at the open, extending early momentum, but failed to sustain the upward trajectory and slipped to around 6,366.5 in early trading.
After climbing at the market open at 9:00 a.m., the index began to pull back around 9:02 a.m., reflecting a swift shift in investor positioning. The market briefly rebounded at around 9:09 a.m., only to turn lower again by 9:13 a.m., highlighting heightened trading session's volatility.
The pullback came as investors grew cautious over geopolitical developments, after reports that Iran’s negotiation team had declined to participate in a second round of ceasefire talks with the United States via mediator Pakistan.
Market direction was also shaped by diverging investor flows.
Retail investors were heavy buyers of 424.4 billion won ($287.4 million), while foreign investors sold 176.1 billion won and institutions offloaded 241.3 billion won, indicating that early gains lacked support from key institutional participants.
Large-cap stocks moved broadly lower in line with the market’s retreat. Shares of SK hynix fell 1.4 percent to 1,207,000 won, while Hyundai Motor declined 1.3 percent to 539,000 won. SK Square dropped 2.5 percent to 700,000 won, and Doosan Enerbility slipped 1 percent to 114,600 won.
Biopharmaceutical heavyweight Samsung Biologics edged down 0.5 percent to 1,580,000 won, while Kia declined 0.9 percent to 158,600 won.
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