The KOSPI index fell nearly 3% shortly after the market opened on November 3, dropping below the 5700 mark. The index, which had rebounded over 2% the previous day, erased all gains within a day. The decline was driven by a drop in U.S. tech stocks overnight, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both falling over 4%.
According to the Korea Exchange, as of 9:02 a.m., the KOSPI was down 170.43 points (2.91%) at 5688.65. The previous day, the KOSPI closed at 5859.08, boosted by significant institutional buying, but reversed course on this day.
In the securities market, foreign and institutional investors sold a net 52.9 billion won and 18.2 billion won, respectively. In contrast, individual investors purchased a net 69.4 billion won, absorbing the selling pressure.
Among the top market capitalization stocks, large-cap semiconductor shares saw significant declines. Samsung Electronics dropped 4.59%, while SK Hynix fell 4.69%. Other semiconductor-related stocks, including SK Square (-4.63%), Samsung Electronics Preferred (-3.22%), and Samsung Electro-Mechanics (-3.69%), also experienced losses.
Other notable declines included Samsung Life Insurance (-4.96%), KB Financial (-1.11%), and Hyundai Motor (-0.52%). Conversely, Samsung Biologics (1.83%) and LG Energy Solution (0.56%) showed gains.
The KOSDAQ index also opened lower, showing a decrease of 15.92 points (2.17%) to 718.44 at the same time.
In the KOSDAQ market, individual investors bought a net 35.6 billion won, while foreign and institutional investors sold a net 5.8 billion won and 21.7 billion won, respectively.
Among the top KOSDAQ stocks, Alteogen (-0.47%), EcoPro (-0.54%), EcoPro BM (-0.22%), Rainbow Robotics (-1.52%), and HLB (-1.68%) were down. Notably, semiconductor-related stocks such as IOTech (-5.62%), Wonik IPS (-5.27%), Juseong Engineering (-4.82%), and Simtech (-3.99%) saw substantial declines.
The weakness in the domestic stock market is attributed to the decline in U.S. tech stocks overnight. On November 2, the Nasdaq Composite fell by 1.07%, and the S&P 500 dropped by 0.51%. Concerns over profitability amid increased investment in artificial intelligence (AI) have led to a sell-off in tech stocks. U.S. semiconductor stocks like Intel and AMD also experienced significant declines, impacting domestic large-cap semiconductor shares.
Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, stated, "As uncertainties surrounding U.S. AI investments are digested, there is a high possibility of sector differentiation during the trading day, and it may be worth paying attention to low PBR themes."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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