Foreign Selling Drives Kospi Down More Than 2% Early

The Kospi fell more than 2% in early trading on July 8, extending the previous session’s slide in semiconductor stocks.

As of 9:23 a.m., the benchmark index was down 2% at 7,502.82. Institutions were net buyers of 206.4 billion won, but foreign investors were net sellers of 187.1 billion won, dragging the index lower. Individuals were also net sellers by 13.3 billion won.

All 10 of the market’s biggest stocks were in the red. Samsung Electronics fell 1.86% to 290,500 won, while SK Hynix slipped 0.43% to 2,191,500 won.

SK Square dropped 6.49%, Samsung Electronics preferred shares fell 1.61%, Samsung Electro-Mechanics lost 6.49%, Hyundai Motor declined 2.61%, LG Energy Solution fell 3.61%, Samsung Life Insurance slid 7.2%, Samsung Biologics dropped 2.04% and Samsung C&T lost 6.12%.

The weakness in South Korean stocks was attributed to an overnight drop in US semiconductor shares and renewed geopolitical risks. In New York trading, Micron fell 4.71%, AMD dropped 6.51%, Intel tumbled 9.66% and SanDisk lost 7.26%.

US Central Command wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that it had launched “a series of powerful airstrikes” to impose “substantial costs” in response to attacks targeting merchant vessels carrying innocent civilians in international waters.

Kang Kyung-ju, Hankyung.com reporter qurasoha@hankyung.com