Kospi Drops 2.6% to 6,600 Level as US Chip Weakness, Middle East Tensions Weigh
Summary
- The Kospi fell more than 2% to the 6,600 level, pressured by weakness in US semiconductor stocks and military tensions in the Middle East.
- On the Kospi market, foreign investors and institutions were posting net sales, while retail investors were net buyers.
- Most large-cap stocks including Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Hyundai Motor and KB Financial were trading lower, while the Kosdaq index was also falling.
Forecast Trend Report by Period
South Korea’s Kospi fell more than 2% in early trading on July 20, slipping to the 6,600 level.
As of 9:05 a.m., the benchmark index was down 175.46 points, or 2.57%, at 6,645.14. That followed a 6.37% slump on July 16, the final trading day of last week.
The decline came after US stocks, particularly semiconductor shares, weakened late last week and military tensions in the Middle East escalated again.
Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said the Kospi was entering a phase of testing lower support this week. He cited weakness in US and Japanese chip stocks during the holiday period, geopolitical conflict between the US and Iran, earnings from major US tech companies including Alphabet, Intel and Tesla, results from key South Korean companies such as Hyundai Motor, Doosan Enerbility and KB Financial, and changes in related trading flows after the announcement of single-stock leverage regulations.
On the Kospi market, foreign investors were net sellers of 90 billion won and institutions sold a net 15.4 billion won. Retail investors were net buyers of 103.2 billion won.
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, South Korea’s two leading chipmakers, both fell. Samsung Electronics dropped 3,500 won, or 1.37%, to 251,500 won, while SK Hynix lost 18,000 won, or 0.98%, to 1.824 million won.
Among heavyweight stocks, Samsung Life Insurance fell 6.80%, Hyundai Motor dropped 4.24%, Kia lost 4.14%, SK Square slid 4.04%, KB Financial fell 3.87%, LG Energy Solution declined 2.69% and Samsung Biologics dropped 1.79%. Samsung Electro-Mechanics rose 0.23%.
The Kosdaq also traded lower. As of the same time, the index was down 12.73 points, or 1.61%, at 779.11.
On the Kosdaq market, retail investors were net sellers of 16.5 billion won. Foreign investors and institutions were net buyers of 15.9 billion won and 1.2 billion won, respectively.
Moves among top Kosdaq stocks were mixed. EcoPro fell 4.25%, EcoPro BM lost 3.65%, PSK dropped 1.59%, Wonik IPS slipped 1.00%, Leeno Industrial fell 0.83% and Alteogen edged down 0.36%. Samchundang Pharm surged 29.82%, Kolon TissueGene gained 1.61%, Jusung Engineering rose 1.12% and Rainbow Robotics added 0.38%.
Lee Su, Hankyung.com reporter 2su@hankyung.com
Korea Economic Daily
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