Ahead of the Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations, investors are showing a wait-and-see attitude as the stock market fluctuates around a stable trend. While the U.S. stock market rose last night on expectations that the U.S.-China trade conflict will ease, our stock market appears to be largely unaffected.
As of 9:20 a.m. on this day, the KOSPI index is showing a slight downward trend, down 6 to 8 points (0.3%) from the previous day, hovering around the 2510 to 2520 range. Foreign investors and institutions are selling off, while individuals are net buying around 150 billion won. On this day, the KOSPI index briefly rebounded in early trading but soon fell again.
The top market-cap stocks are mixed. Samsung Electronics, Hanwha Ocean, Hanwha Aerospace, Kia, Samsung C&T, and HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering all started positively. On this day, SK hynix announced that its operating profit for the first quarter of this year (January to March) increased by 157.8% year-on-year to 744.05 billion won, resulting in a 0.11% increase.
In contrast, LG Energy Solution, Samsung Biologics, Hyundai Motor, Celltrion, and others are trading at lower prices than the previous day.
Overnight, the New York stock market rose. The U.S. Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index closed at 5,375.86, up 88.10 points (1.67%) from the previous session, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index finished at 16,708.05, up 407.63 points (2.50%).
U.S. President Donald Trump has eased pressure on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates, and expectations for progress in U.S.-China tariff negotiations have impacted the stock market. On the 23rd (local time), The Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump is considering a plan to reduce tariffs on some imported goods from China by more than half. He mentioned that tariff rates could be determined in the next 2 to 3 weeks and discussed the possibility of a reduction timeframe.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ index is up 1.06 points (0.15%) at 727.14. In the KOSDAQ market, individuals are the sole buyers, with transactions amounting to 48.6 billion won. In contrast, foreign and institutional investors are selling off 26.5 billion won and 20.3 billion won, respectively.
The top market-cap stocks in the KOSDAQ market are also mixed. Ecopro, Rainbow Robotics, HUGEL, and ECOPRO BM started gaining. However, Alteogen, HLB, and Pept are starting lower.
The exchange rate for the Korean won against the U.S. dollar is at 1,427 won, down 0.04% from the previous day.