Kospi Falls 1.5% Early as US Tech Weakness Pushes Index Back to 5,580

South Korea’s Kospi fell more than 1% in early trading on October 19, with selling centered on large-cap stocks after declines in US technology and semiconductor shares.

As of 9:04 a.m., the Kospi was down 87.49 points, or 1.54%, at 5,580.56 from the previous session. The benchmark extended losses shortly after the open before recouping part of the decline, after major technology stocks led a broad retreat on Wall Street.

By investor type, foreigners and institutions were net buyers of 563.3 billion won and 379.9 billion won, respectively, helping cushion the index’s decline. Retail investors were net sellers of 845.6 billion won as they took profits.

Most of the market’s largest companies were lower. Samsung Electronics fell 0.70% and SK Hynix dropped 2.36%. SK Square lost 3.06%, Samsung Electro-Mechanics fell 3.54%, LG Energy Solution slipped 1.74% and Samsung Electronics preferred shares declined 0.90%. Samsung Biologics bucked the trend, rising 0.15%.

The Kosdaq also declined. At the same time, the index was down 13.41 points, or 1.69%, at 781.37. Foreigners and institutions were net buyers of 70.6 billion won and 10.7 billion won, respectively, while retail investors were net sellers of 82.2 billion won.

Among Kosdaq heavyweights, Alteogen fell 1.07%, Ecopro dropped 2.83%, Ecopro BM lost 3.27% and Rainbow Robotics slid 3.97%. Semiconductor-related shares also weakened, with EO Technics down 3.24%, LEENO Industrial falling 3.25% and Simmtech losing 3.63%. In Seoul’s foreign-exchange market, the won traded at 1,333.8 per dollar, down 2.7 won from the previous session.