The KOSPI opened higher on August 7, initially rising over 1% before reducing its gains. Following a mixed close on Wall Street, foreign and institutional buying has contributed to the upward trend.
According to the Korea Exchange, as of 9:17 a.m., the KOSPI was up 42.75 points (0.68%) at 6,339.13. The index started at 6,365.07, up 68.69 points (1.09%) from the previous session, but has since decreased its gains.
In the securities market, individual investors have sold a net 259.8 billion won, while foreign and institutional investors have bought a net 283.8 billion won and 1.5 billion won, respectively.
Most of the top market capitalization stocks on the KOSPI are showing gains. Samsung Electronics rose 0.87%, SK Hynix increased by 0.20%, SK Square was up 0.72%, Samsung Electro-Mechanics gained 2.20%, Hyundai Motor rose 0.25%, LG Energy Solution increased by 1.45%, and KB Financial was up 0.12%. In contrast, Samsung Biologics fell by 0.20% and Samsung Life Insurance dropped by 0.87%.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ index was up 7.35 points (0.92%) at 809.02, starting at 807.62, which was up 5.95 points (0.74%) from the previous session.
In the KOSDAQ market, individual and institutional investors have bought a net 24.3 billion won and 17.5 billion won, respectively, while foreign investors have sold a net 41.2 billion won.
The top stocks in the KOSDAQ are mixed. Alteogen rose 0.17%, EcoPro increased by 3.35%, EcoPro BM was up 3.12%, HLB gained 1.85%, ABL Bio rose 1.08%, and Peptron increased by 2.02%. However, Rainbow Robotics fell by 3.78%, Juseong Engineering dropped by 0.22%, Rino Technology decreased by 0.15%, and Wonik IPS was down 2.05%.
Meanwhile, on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.85%, the S&P 500 dropped by 0.18%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq decreased by 0.06%.
Among individual stocks, SanDisk fell by 6.81% and Western Digital dropped by 13.03% following their earnings reports. Notably, Western Digital's stock plummeted despite exceeding market expectations, as the market has recently prioritized shipment growth over earnings, reacting negatively to revenue growth reliant on price increases.
This led to Micron's stock dropping over 7% at one point, but it later rebounded to close up 1.31% as Alphabet's $25 billion bond issuance raised expectations for future semiconductor investments. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which had initially fallen over 2%, ultimately closed up 0.33%.
Seo Sang-young, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, noted, "While some semiconductor stocks showed weakness after earnings reports, they quickly recovered, leading to a flat opening. Following Alphabet's bond issuance and the hawkish comments from Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, profit-taking led to a decline in the market."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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