Kospi Hits Record 7,531, Tops 7,500 Before Reversing Lower

Source

Korea Economic Daily

Summary

The report said the Kospi broke above 7,500 on hopes for an end to the U.S.-Iran conflict before turning lower on profit-taking.
It said retail investors were net buyers in the main board while foreign and institutional investors were both net sellers.
It said large-cap Kospi and Kosdaq stocks were mixed while the won-dollar exchange rate fell.

Forecast Trend Report by Period

Wall Street sets fresh records on hopes of a U.S.-Iran ceasefire

Kospi climbs as high as 7,531.88 in early trading

Rally fatigue spurs selling by foreigners and institutions

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix advance

*Employees celebrate in the dealing room at Hana Bank's headquarters in central Seoul on May 6 after the Kospi climbed above 7,000. Photo: Kim Beom-jun, Korea Economic Daily*

South Korea’s Kospi rose above 7,500 intraday and set another record high on hopes for an end to the U.S.-Iran conflict. The benchmark later turned lower as recent rally fatigue and profit-taking set in.

As of 9:23 a.m. on May 7, the Kospi was down 38.58 points, or 0.52%, at 7,345.98 from the previous session. The index opened 1.55% higher and climbed to as much as 7,531.88 early in the session before reversing into negative territory.

U.S. stocks finished higher overnight. Investor sentiment improved on news that the United States and Iran were discussing a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both renewed record highs.

In the Kospi market, retail investors were net buyers of 3.504 trillion won. Foreign investors were net sellers of 2.3427 trillion won, while institutions sold a net 1.1956 trillion won.

Among large-cap Kospi stocks, Samsung Electronics rose 2.44%, SK Hynix gained 1.56%, SK Square added 1.74%, Hyundai Motor climbed 7.09%, Doosan Enerbility surged 8.74%, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries advanced 1.54% and Samsung Electro-Mechanics edged up 0.22%.

LG Energy Solution fell 1.56%, while Hanwha Aerospace lost 3.91% and Samsung Biologics slipped 0.14%.

The Kosdaq also traded lower. As of that time, the index was down 4.37 points, or 0.36%, at 1,205.80.

On the Kosdaq, foreign investors and institutions were net sellers of 125.1 billion won and 6.6 billion won, respectively. Retail investors were net buyers of 140.5 billion won.

Moves among Kosdaq market-cap leaders were mixed. Samchundang Pharm dropped more than 2%. EcoPro, Rainbow Robotics, Leeno Industrial and HLB also declined.

Kolon TissueGene, by contrast, jumped more than 18%. EcoPro BM, Alteogen and LigaChem Biosciences also rose.

The won opened higher against the dollar. In Seoul's foreign-exchange market, the won-dollar rate opened at 1,448.30 won per dollar, down 6.70 won from the previous session.

Lee Su, Hankyung.com reporter 2su@hankyung.com