Kospi Falls Early Ahead of Semiconductor Investment Announcement

Kosdaq rises

The Kospi fell back to the 8,200 level in early trading on June 29 ahead of a semiconductor investment announcement.

As of 9:05 a.m., the benchmark Kospi was down 156.24 points, or 1.86%, at 8,254.97. The index had already closed 5.81% lower on Friday and extended its decline in early Monday trading.

President Lee Jae-myung is scheduled to chair the “National Briefing on South Korea’s Three Mega Projects for a Great Leap Forward” at 2 p.m. at the Blue House. Under the event’s subtitle, “From Recovery to a Great Leap Forward, a Super-Gap Korea,” Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won are to attend, and the two groups are expected to unveil large-scale investment plans.

Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said the Kospi is likely to remain volatile this week. He cited technical buying after Friday’s plunge, the US June jobs report, the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing and services purchasing managers indexes, comments from key Federal Reserve officials including Kevin Warsh, whether Apple-related noise over the memory-chip outlook will spread further, South Korea’s June exports and an event marking the 30th anniversary of the Kosdaq.

Foreign investors were net sellers of 935.7 billion won on the Kospi as of that time. Individuals and institutions were net buyers of 752.1 billion won and 150.1 billion won, respectively.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the market’s two semiconductor bellwethers, were down about 3% and 1%, respectively, ahead of the investment announcement. The declines followed concerns raised last week that big tech companies may scale back investment if they cannot absorb higher memory-chip prices.

The Kosdaq rose 16.49 points, or 1.94%, to 867.86.

On the Kosdaq, institutions were net buyers of 35.9 billion won. Individuals and foreign investors were net sellers of 12.5 billion won and 21.4 billion won, respectively.

Justek, which made its market debut on June 29, was trading at 36,450 won, up 191.6% from its initial public offering price of 12,500 won.

The won opened weaker against the dollar. In Seoul trading, the currency opened at 1,536.5 per dollar, down 4.5 won from the previous session.

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