Kospi Hovers Near 6,900 as Foreign, Institutional Selling Weighs Ahead of Samsung Electronics Earnings

The Kospi hovered near the 6,900 level on Oct. 7, pressured by combined foreign and institutional selling even after U.S. stocks closed at record highs.

According to the Korea Exchange, the Kospi stood at 6,899.77 as of 10:40 a.m., down 41.62 points, or 0.60%, from the previous session. The index opened at 6,864.25, down 77.14 points, or 1.11%, and later pared some of its losses.

Individuals were buying into the decline. On the main board, retail investors were net buyers of 484 billion won, while foreign and institutional investors were net sellers of 346.7 billion won and 128.3 billion won, respectively.

Caution ahead of Samsung Electronics Co.'s preliminary third-quarter earnings report due on Oct. 8 was limiting the index's upside. Samsung Electronics rose 0.55% to 273,500 won, while SK Hynix fell 1.80% to 1.741 million won. Jusung Engineering dropped 1.26%, Samsung Electro-Mechanics lost 0.42%, LG Electronics declined 0.65% and Samchundang Pharm fell 0.83%. In contrast, LS ELECTRIC gained 2.30%, Daehan Optical Communication advanced 4.75% and Taihan Electric Wire added 0.47%.

Overnight in New York, major indexes all rose on expectations for stronger third-quarter corporate earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.49%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose 0.58% and 0.45%, respectively, to fresh record highs.

Goldman Sachs projected third-quarter earnings per share for S&P 500 companies would increase 27% from a year earlier, boosting expectations for improved results at artificial intelligence-related companies. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 0.03 percentage point to 5.281%. Marvell Technology rose 5.8%, Broadcom gained 3.7% and AMD climbed 2.8%, leading strength in semiconductor and AI shares.

The Kosdaq also fell. As of 10:40 a.m., the index stood at 911.26, down 8.66 points, or 0.94%, from the previous session. It opened at 917.45 and extended its losses. Individuals were net buyers of 86.7 billion won, but foreign and institutional investors were net sellers of 69.5 billion won and 13.8 billion won, respectively.

Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said the market's upside would likely remain capped as wait-and-see sentiment ahead of Samsung Electronics' preliminary earnings coincided with caution over a market holiday later this week. He added that trading was likely to shift toward sector rotation.

Samsung Electronics is scheduled to release its preliminary third-quarter earnings on Oct. 8.