On the 12th, the first trading day after the Hangul Day holiday, the KOSPI fell by more than 2% amid foreign selling and weakness in semiconductor stocks. It appears that the selling pressure on semiconductor stocks in the U.S. New York stock market, driven by concerns over the growth potential of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, has spilled over into the domestic stock market.
At 10:14 a.m., the KOSPI index was trading at 6452.43, down 173.50 points (2.62%) from the previous day.
After opening at 6578.17, down 47.76 points (0.72%), the KOSPI narrowed its decline to 6589.69 (down 36.24 points, 0.55%) in early trading. However, as foreign selling intensified, it slipped below the 6,500 mark and fell to an intraday low of 6450.97, down 174.96 points (2.64%). By investor type, foreigners are net sellers of 500.6 billion won. Retail investors and institutional investors are net buyers of 242.8 billion won and 115.4 billion won, respectively.
Samsung Electronics is trading at 255,500 won, down 2.48%. SK Hynix showed a decline of 3.99% to 1,614,000 won. Among top market capitalization stocks, △SK Square (-4.48%), △Samsung Biologics (-2.38%), and △Samsung Life Insurance (-1.86%) are falling.
Although the U.S. New York stock market rose during the holiday period, memory semiconductor stocks showed weakness. On the 9th (local time), memory semiconductor stocks such as Micron (-0.66%), SanDisk (-1.72%), and SK Hynix American Depositary Receipts (ADR) (-0.86%) declined. Previously, when the UK's Financial Times (FT) reported that OpenAI's annualized revenue was $20 billion lower than previously indicated, concerns were raised about the growth potential of the AI industry. It is also assessed that Samsung Electronics' preliminary third-quarter operating profit of 107.4 trillion won falling short of the forecast of 112.73 trillion won compiled by U.S. market research firm Visible Alpha weighed on investor sentiment toward U.S. semiconductor stocks.
A sense of caution has also formed ahead of the release of U.S. September consumer price index (CPI) and other inflation indicators this week.
The KOSDAQ index was trading at 865.20, down 27.07 points (3.03%). The KOSDAQ index also opened lower at 885.53, down 6.74 points (0.76%), before widening its decline. Foreigners and institutional investors are net sellers of 88 billion won and 28.5 billion won, respectively, while retail investors are net buyers of 117.7 billion won.
Among top market capitalization stocks, △Lino Industrial (-9.22%), △RAINBOW Robotics (-7.69%), △EcoPro BM (-7.38%), △Simtech (-4.69%), △Alteogen (-3.32%), and △EcoPro (-5.22%) are falling.
Kiwoom Securities presented the expected range for the KOSPI this week as 6,450 to 7,000 points. Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, stated, "It has become a critical time when the strength of upward revisions to overall KOSPI profit forecasts, linked to how much the 2027 earnings estimates for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix can be raised, is important." She added, "Even if caution ahead of the U.S. September CPI release and volatility in U.S. 10-year Treasury yields continue as external uncertainties, there is a possibility that the index will maintain downside resilience and show a trend of recovering to the high 6,000-point range."
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