Kospi Drops More Than 3% Despite Samsung Earnings Beat, Slips to 7,700

Foreign and institutional investors both sell

Kosdaq turns higher

South Korea’s Kospi fell more than 3% in early trading on July 7, slipping to the 7,700 level as investors took profits even after Samsung Electronics reported record second-quarter results.

As of 9:16 a.m., the Kospi was down 293.39 points, or 3.64%, at 7,757.94. The index opened 1.64% lower and at one point widened its loss to more than 4%.

On the main board, foreign investors were net sellers of 325.7 billion won and institutions sold a net 195 billion won. Retail investors were net buyers of 505.4 billion won.

The decline appeared driven by heavy profit-taking in Samsung Electronics despite the company’s earnings surprise. Samsung said on July 7 that consolidated second-quarter revenue rose 129.3% from a year earlier to 171 trillion won, while operating profit surged 1,810.3% to 89.4 billion won. Operating profit topped the market consensus of 85 billion won and exceeded the company’s full-year 2025 operating profit of 43.6011 billion won.

Other Kospi heavyweights were mostly lower. SK Hynix, SK Square, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Hyundai Motor, LG Energy Solution, Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung C&T, Samsung Biologics and Kia declined, while KB Financial Group rose.

The Kosdaq was up 6.96 points, or 0.82%, at 854.03 at the same time. The index opened 0.39% lower, turned positive within two minutes of the open and continued to advance.

On the Kosdaq market, foreign investors were net buyers of 5.5 billion won and institutions bought a net 50.5 billion won. Retail investors were net sellers of 55.8 billion won.

Among top Kosdaq stocks by market value, moves were mixed. Alteogen, EcoPro, Jusung Engineering, Kolon TissueGene, HLB, ABL Bio and LigaChem Bio rose, while EcoPro BM, Rainbow Robotics, Wonik IPS and Rino Industrial fell.

Ko Jeong-sam, Hankyung.com reporter jsk@hankyung.com