Kospi Climbs 2.7% Above 8,300 on Retail Buying; Samsung, SK Hynix Rise

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both rise

Kosdaq falls

South Korea’s Kospi rose above 8,300 early on July 6 as retail investors stepped up buying.

As of 9:18 a.m., the benchmark index was up 220.13 points, or 2.72%, at 8,308.47 from the previous session. The Kospi opened up more than 1% and extended its gains to reclaim the 8,300 level intraday. The move followed a 5.76% jump on July 3, the final trading day of last week.

In the benchmark stock market, retail investors were net buyers of 433.3 billion won worth of shares. Foreign and institutional investors were net sellers of 360.3 billion won and 97.9 billion won, respectively.

Chip heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both traded higher. Samsung Electronics rose 10,500 won, or 3.39%, to 320,000 won. SK Hynix gained 24,000 won, or 0.99%, to 2,449,000 won.

Investor focus is on Samsung Electronics' preliminary second-quarter earnings, due on July 7. FnGuide, a financial data provider, estimates consensus second-quarter revenue of 174.3017 trillion won, up 133.8% from a year earlier, and operating profit of 8.51766 trillion won, up 1,721.5%.

Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said the Kospi could recoup some of its recent sharp losses this week as investors assess minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's June meeting, comments from senior Federal Reserve officials including the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, key U.S. economic indicators such as the Institute for Supply Management's June services purchasing managers index, Samsung Electronics' preliminary second-quarter earnings and the U.S. listing of SK Hynix American depositary receipts.

The Kosdaq was lower. As of that time, the tech-heavy index had fallen 3.40 points, or 0.39%, to 865.01.

In the Kosdaq market, retail investors were net buyers of 74.7 billion won worth of shares. Foreign and institutional investors were net sellers of 56.4 billion won and 14.9 billion won, respectively.

Among large-cap Kosdaq stocks, trading was mixed. Alteogen fell 1.46% and EcoPro BM slipped 0.48%, while EcoPro rose 1.26% and Rainbow Robotics added 0.51%.

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