Kospi Turns Flat After Briefly Crossing 6,400 for First Time as Foreigners, Institutions Sell

Index briefly topped 6,400 just after the open

Turns lower amid caution over U.S.-Iran peace talks

South Korea’s Kospi moved in and out of flat territory early on April 22 after briefly climbing above 6,400 for the first time, as lingering uncertainty over U.S.-Iran peace talks weighed on sentiment.

As of 9:14 a.m., the Kospi was down 10.72 points, or 0.17%, at 6,377.75. The benchmark opened 0.01% lower, turned positive immediately after the open and rose above 6,400 for the first time on record, before quickly reversing lower and fluctuating around the unchanged line.

On the main board, foreign investors were net sellers of 247.2 billion won and institutions sold a net 675.5 billion won. Retail investors were net buyers of 937.2 billion won.

Investor wariness centered on U.S.-Iran peace talks. Iran’s negotiating team reportedly delivered its final position to the U.S. through mediator Pakistan, saying it would not participate in a second round of peace talks.

Among Kospi heavyweights, SK Hynix, LG Energy Solution, Hyundai Motor, SK Square, Doosan Enerbility, Samsung Biologics, Kia, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and KB Financial Group fell, while Samsung Electronics, Hanwha Aerospace, Samsung Electro-Mechanics and Samsung SDI rose.

The Kosdaq was down 3.49 points, or 0.3%, at 1,175.74 at the same time. In the Kosdaq market, foreign investors were net sellers of 31.7 billion won and institutions sold a net 50.9 billion won. Retail investors were net buyers of 129.4 billion won.

Among the largest Kosdaq stocks by market capitalization, EcoPro, EcoPro BM, Alteogen, Rainbow Robotics, Samchundang Pharm, Leeno Industrial, ABL Bio, Kolon TissueGene, HLB and Peptron fell. LigaChem Biosciences and Voronoi rose.

In Seoul’s foreign-exchange market, the won opened at 1,479.5 per dollar, up 11 won from the previous day’s daytime session close.

Jeongsam Go, Hankyung.com reporter jsk@hankyung.com