SEOUL, June 29 (AJP) -South Korea's junior KOSDAQ index stole the limelight amid broad retreat in Asia, gaining more than 6 percent Monday morning on expectations of the government's unveiling of mega industrial projects led by Samsung Electronics and SK Group expected to announce private-sector investments that could exceed 1 quadrillion won over the next decade.
President Lee Jae Myung is set to chair a national briefing later in the day outlining the projects, which center on semiconductor fabrication plants, large-scale artificial intelligence data centers and physical AI and robotics. Samsung Electronics and SK Group are expected to announce investment plans spanning the next 10 years as part of the initiative.
The KOSDAQ rose 6.1 percent to 903.4 after moving between an intraday high of 907.69 and a low of 859.33. The sharp rally triggered a buy-side sidecar during the session. Institutions bought 280.8 billion won ($182.6 million) worth of shares and foreign investors purchased 28.8 billion won, while retail investors sold a net 297.5 billion won.
Biotech and battery stocks led the advance. Ecopro soared 17.3 percent to 111,900 won, D&D Pharmatech jumped 19.8 percent to 93,100 won, LG Energy Solution climbed 10.8 percent to 367,000 won, Samsung SDI gained 8.7 percent to 494,500 won and SK Eternix surged 23.2 percent to 53,200 won.
The benchmark KOSPI, however, fell 2 percent to 8,243.4 after moving between an intraday high of 8,334.78 and a low of 8,127.99, as foreign investors continued heavy selling in semiconductor heavyweights. Retail investors bought 1.82 trillion won worth of shares and institutions purchased 985.7 billion won, while foreign investors sold 2.91 trillion won.
Samsung Electronics dropped 4.7 percent to 323,500 won and SK hynix fell 4 percent to 2,567,000 won. SK Square lost 6.6 percent to 1,607,000 won. Among gainers, Samsung Electro-Mechanics rose 3.8 percent to 206,800 won, Hyundai Motor added 1.1 percent to 485,750 won, Doosan Enerbility climbed 5.2 percent to 85,300 won and Daehan Electric Wire advanced 9.4 percent to 33,900 won.
Among sectors, life science tools and services led gains with a 12.6 percent increase, followed by healthcare technology, up 11.4 percent, and leisure equipment and products, up 11.3 percent. Lithium-related shares rose 11.2 percent, while cord blood-related stocks climbed 10.2 percent.
The Korean won weakened 0.04 percent to 1,537.9 per dollar. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.6 percent to 68,925.4, while China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.2 percent to 4,019.56. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.8 percent to 22,846.40.
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