Kospi slips 0.04% as foreigner sell-off continues

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Kospi slips 0.04% as foreigner sell-off continues

Published: 17 Oct. 2024, 17:03

CHO YONG-JUN
cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,609.30 points on Wednesday, down 0.04 percent, or 1.06 points, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Shares closed slightly lower Thursday as foreign investors extended their selling streak to a second session. The local currency lost ground against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi slipped 1.06 points, or 0.04 percent, to close at 2,609.30. The Kosdaq shed 0.73 points, or 0.1 percent, to 765.06.

Trading volume was moderate at 325 million shares worth 9.7 trillion won ($7.09 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 511 to 358.

Foreign investors net sold 405.8 billion won worth of local shares, one day after they offloaded a net 657 billion won. Institutions and retail investors net purchased 200.5 billion won and 163 billion won, respectively.

The index opened in positive territory, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street helped by advances in Big Tech shares, including artificial intelligence giant Nvidia, which closed 3.13 percent higher.

The Kospi showed choppy movements as investors took a cautious approach ahead of an upcoming earnings report from TSMC.

"The earnings report will likely determine the direction of investor sentiment as favorable conditions in the AI market are expected to continue," Kiwoom Securities analyst Han Ji-young said.

TSMC said its third-quarter net profit surged 54.2 percent on year, higher than market expectations.

Tech shares closed higher in Seoul, with Samsung Electronics advancing 0.34 percent to 59,700 won and SK hynix surging 3.87 percent to 196,000 won.

Other large caps were mixed, with pharmaceutical firm Celltrion tumbling 3.52 percent to 188,900 won. Battery maker LG Energy Solution lost 1.85 percent to 397,000 won.

Hyundai Motor plunged 4.66 percent to 235,500 won and Kia lost 2.66 percent to 95,200 won.

The local currency was trading at 1,368.6 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., up 6 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year government bonds rose 1.2 basis points to 2.89 percent, and the return on the benchmark U.S. 10-year government bonds dropped 1.9 basis points to 4.01 percent.

BY CHO YONG-JUN, YONHAP [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]