U.S. and China’s friendly trade negotiations resulted in a surge in the New York stock market overnight, but domestic markets showed a cautious stance. Analysts attribute the KOSPI index's limited movement to having reflected the positive atmosphere of the U.S.-China negotiations prior to the joint statement of the two countries, which was more than 1% higher the previous day. However, the KOSDAQ index closed slightly higher due to the rebound in the pharmaceutical and bio sectors that had been acting as downward pressure.
On the 13th, the KOSPI index recorded 2608.42, up 1.09 points (0.04%) from the previous trading day. The index started at 2601.76, down 5.57 points (0.21%) from the previous day, despite the positive results of the U.S.-China tariff negotiations. It fluctuated between rises and falls, reaching as high as 2620.64 at one point, but ultimately finished with a slight gain.
Foreign investors defended against declines in the securities market with a net purchase of 171.8 billion won. In the KOSPI 200 futures market, they also made a net purchase of 88 billion won. Individual investors, who had shown a buying advantage early in the session, net sold 136.4 billion won, while institutional investors sold off 89.2 billion won.
The top stocks by market capitalization in the securities market finished mixed. Samsung Electronics, which surged 5.11% (2,800 won) due to significant net purchasing by foreign investors on the previous day following eased tariff concerns, and HANMI Semiconductor both fell back to realize profits, decreasing 1.22% (700 won) and 2.41% (2,000 won) respectively. In contrast, SK hynix rose 1.79% (3,500 won) amid news of price increases for NVIDIA's product line and a rise in U.S. big tech stocks overnight.
As the majority party in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Republican Party proposed a bill formalizing the elimination of subsidies for American electric vehicles under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), resulting in declines for LG Energy Solution, POSCO FUTURE M, and L&F. The defense sector also continued to show profit-taking movements, with Hyundai Rotem, Hanwha Aerospace, KAI, and LIG Nex1 all showing weakness.
Following reports of share purchases by Hoban Construction, speculation arose regarding a potential management rights dispute, causing Hanjin KAL to soar 29.93% (26,700 won) to 115,900 won. Hoban Construction currently holds an 18.46% stake in Hanjin KAL. The largest shareholder, Cho Won-tae, chairman of Hanjin Group, has a stake of 30.54%, and excluding the stake held by the Korea Development Bank (10.58%), the difference in equity with Hoban Construction is a mere 1.5 percentage points.
After the domestic market closed the previous day, the U.S. and China announced that they would lower tariffs on each other’s products from 145% to 30% and from 125% to 10%, respectively, and agreed to continue negotiations for 90 days. Consequently, the New York stock market surged overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 2.81%, the Standard & Poor's 500 index increasing by 3.26%, and the Nasdaq composite index climbing 4.35%.
Lee Kyung-min, a researcher at DAISHIN SECURITIES, noted, “There is caution as the U.S.-China negotiations are a 'temporary measure' set to be implemented over 90 days,” adding that ahead of the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) announcement for April that night, rising dollar index and U.S. Treasury yield acted as burden factors.
On this day, the KOSDAQ index recorded 731.88, up 6.48 points (0.89%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 731.11, up 5.71 points (0.79%) from the previous day, and then increased its gains. In the KOSDAQ market, foreign investors and institutional investors net purchased 39.7 billion won and 59.4 billion won, respectively, driving the index's rise. Individual investors closed with a selling advantage of 87.2 billion won.
The rebound of pharmaceutical stocks, which had sharply dropped due to concerns over drug price cuts the previous day, is analyzed to be a driving force for the rise. There is an analysis that the administrative order for drug price cuts announced by U.S. President Donald Trump is focused more on distribution and insurance companies rather than pharmaceutical companies, resulting in surges for Alteogen, HLB, Peptron, HUGEL, LigaChem Biosciences, and Sam Chun Dang Pharm.
Following the incorporation of Samsung Electronics' subsidiary Rainbow Robotics, a movement in the robotics theme that had been absent has been invigorated. The formation of a robotics alliance between LG Innotek and Hyundai Motor, along with the news that a director from Yujin Robot joined the campaign of Lee Jae-myung, a presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, appears to have fueled expectations. Consequently, NAU Robotics and Yujin Robot surged to their upper limits, while Yuil Robotics and Rainbow Robotics also rose.
Influenced by the strong dollar trend following the conclusion of trade negotiations between the U.S. and China, the won-dollar exchange rate also surged. In the Seoul foreign exchange market, the weekly closing price (as of 3:30 p.m.) of the won against the U.S. dollar recorded 1,416.0 won, up 13.6 won from the previous day.
On this day, the transaction amounts in the securities market and KOSDAQ market were recorded at 83.21 trillion won and 70.22 trillion won, respectively.