As of the morning of the 8th, the KOSPI index is maintaining a slight upward trend due to net buying from institutions and individuals.
As of 11:30 a.m. that day, the KOSPI index is trading at 2580.61, an increase of 6.81 points (0.26%) from the previous day. In the securities market, individuals and institutions are net buying 734 billion won and 577 billion won, respectively. Only foreigners are selling 156 billion won worth.
The leading stocks by market capitalization are mixed. Following news that the Trump administration may relax semiconductor export regulations involving artificial intelligence (AI), Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are up 0.37% and 1.1%, respectively. Additionally, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, Hyundai Motor, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, and KB Financial are strong. APR, a beauty tech company that reported unexpected results in the first quarter, surged more than 20%.
On the other hand, the stocks of LG Energy Solution, Hanwha Aerospace, Celltrion, Kia, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Shinhan Financial Group, and Hanwha Ocean are underperforming.
On that day, Kakao, which announced an operating profit of 1.054 billion won, down 12% from the same period last year, is also dropping more than 3%. Following comments from an Apple executive that AI will replace existing search engine services, Naver's stock is also down over 5% domestically after Google’s parent company Alphabet.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ index is trading at 726.44, up 3.63 points (0.5%) from the previous day. In the KOSDAQ market, individuals and foreigners are buying 264 billion won and 240 billion won worth, respectively, while institutions are net selling 281 billion won.
The top market capitalization stocks on the KOSDAQ are also mixed. The top five stocks, including Alteogen, ECOPRO BM, HLB, Ecopro, and Rainbow Robotics, are all declining. In contrast, HUGEL and Sam Chun Dang Pharm are showing strengths of over 2%. CLASSYS has risen over 5%, and Peptron is also strong at over 4%. Expectations for improved first-quarter results have pushed SILICON2’s rise to nearly 11%.
Political theme stocks are experiencing sharp fluctuations. Pyung Hwa Holdings (19.8%) and Pyunghwa Industrial (14.4%), linked to Kim Moon-soo, the People Power Party presidential candidate, are recording double-digit percentage increases. In contrast, i-Scream edu (-7.93%), TY Holdings (-4.28%), and TAEYOUNG E&C (-4.31%), associated with independent candidate Han Duck-soo, are declining.
In the Seoul foreign exchange market, the exchange rate of the won (won/USD) compared to the U.S. dollar is trading at 1395.80 won, down 2.7 won from the previous trading day.