The KOSPI index halted its five-day winning streak, retreating to the 6800 level. Although it initially recovered to the 7200 range, buoyed by strong global memory semiconductor stocks, significant selling by institutions and geopolitical uncertainties in the Middle East led to a decline by the end of the trading session. The KOSDAQ also fell over 3% due to simultaneous selling by foreign and institutional investors.
On August 18, the Korea Exchange reported that the KOSPI closed at 6869.83, down 108.11 points (1.55%) from the previous trading day.
The index opened at 7127.77, up 149.83 points (2.15%), briefly surpassing the 7200 mark early in the session. However, as selling pressure from institutions intensified, the index quickly gave up its gains and fell below the 6900 level. It managed to reduce some losses but finished the day in the 6800 range.
Early in the session, memory semiconductor stocks drove the index higher. Following a strong performance in the U.S. market, where companies like SanDisk (up 8.88%), Micron (up 4.13%), and Western Digital (up 5.4%) saw gains, expectations for increased investment in AI data centers and prolonged memory supply shortages attracted buying interest in domestic semiconductor stocks.
Investor sentiment towards the semiconductor sector remained positive. Anthropic reported a 14.6-fold increase in second-quarter revenue to $11.5 billion, raising expectations for expanded AI investments. Additionally, the U.S. government's opposition to Apple's purchases of Chinese memory semiconductors alleviated concerns about supply expansion from Chinese memory firms. The previous day, memory-related stocks also performed well in the U.S. market, with Micron (up 4.1%), SanDisk (up 8.9%), and Western Digital (up 5.4%).
However, renewed geopolitical uncertainties stemming from the Middle East dampened the upward momentum. With the expiration of the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding, President Donald Trump demanded Iran's capitulation and warned of potential bombings if Oman obstructed negotiations. This led to a rise in international oil prices, which in turn weakened investor sentiment towards risk assets.
On this day, individual and foreign investors made net purchases of 1.217 trillion won and 39.8 billion won, respectively. In contrast, institutions led the index decline with a net selling of 1.1986 trillion won.
Among the top market capitalization stocks, Samsung Electronics (-2.19%), SK Square (-1.65%), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (-7.57%), Hyundai Motor (-3.97%), LG Energy Solution (-5.01%), and Samsung Biologics (-1.10%) all fell, while SK Hynix (up 1.03%) and Samsung Life Insurance (up 3.16%) saw gains.
The KOSDAQ index closed at 834.20, down 30.45 points (3.52%) from the previous trading day.
In the KOSDAQ market, individuals made a net purchase of 454.4 billion won, while foreign and institutional investors sold a net 20.3 billion won and 416.5 billion won, respectively, contributing to the index decline.
Among the top market capitalization stocks, Alteogen (-5.10%), EcoPro (-6.94%), EcoPro BM (-6.51%), Rainbow Robotics (-6.19%), Wonik IPS (-3.60%), Rino Technology (-4.24%), and ABL Bio (-5.11%) all declined, while JUSUNG Engineering (up 0.84%) and EO Technics (up 2.48%) gained.
Lee Kyung-min, a researcher at Daishin Securities, noted, "While investor sentiment towards the semiconductor sector remains positive, the market showed weakness due to profit-taking following five consecutive days of gains. The reduction in foreign net purchases and increased institutional selling, along with rising international oil prices and market interest rates, also exerted downward pressure on the index." He added, "Although sentiment towards the memory sector is favorable, profit-taking is occurring across the broader market, and volatility may increase in the short term depending on the geopolitical situation in the Middle East and oil price trends."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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