A stock ticker at Hana Bank headquarters in central Seoul shows the benchmark KOSPI closing at 8,801.49, up 0.15 percent from the previous trading session, Tuesday. Yonhap
Korea’s benchmark KOSPI recovered from steep intraday losses Tuesday as retail and institutional investors stepped in to offset heavy foreign selling following the market’s recent rally.
The benchmark index closed at 8,801.49, up 0.15 percent from the previous session, extending its streak of record-high closes to a third consecutive trading day.
After rising as high as 8,933.62 shortly after the opening bell, just 66 points shy of the unprecedented 9,000 mark, KOSPI tumbled to the 8,500 level during intraday trading before rebounding late in the session.
The volatile session came a day after the benchmark index closed at a record high of 8,788.38.
Analysts attributed the sharp intraday swing to profit-taking by foreign investors following recent gains in semiconductor and other artificial intelligence (AI)-related shares. Retail and institutional investors, however, helped cushion the decline by scooping up stocks.
According to the Korea Exchange, foreign investors sold a net 6.59 trillion won ($4.34 billion) worth of stocks, weighing on the index. Retail and institutional investors were net buyers of 6.35 trillion won and 237.4 billion won, respectively.
Samsung Electronics closed at 360,500 won, up 3.3 percent from the previous session, while SK hynix fell 0.13 percent to close at 2.36 million won.
“Some of the stocks that had led the recent rally, particularly those tied to physical AI and semiconductor substrates, came under selling pressure as investors locked in profits,” said Kim Seok-hwan, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities.
Despite heightened market volatility, several Nvidia-related stocks outperformed on optimism surrounding Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s planned visit to Korea later this week.
Doosan Robotics surged 20.45 percent to close at 166,700 won after Huang expressed interest in investing in Korea’s robotics industry. Shares of game developer NC also jumped 14.38 percent to close at 338,000 won following media reports that Huang could meet CEO Kim Taek-jin during his visit.
KOSPI’s record-breaking rally has propelled Korea past India to become the world’s sixth-largest stock market by market capitalization.
Bloomberg reported Tuesday that the market capitalization of Korea’s stock market had surged 86 percent this year to $5.042 trillion as of Monday, exceeding India’s $4.843 trillion.
The secondary bourse Kosdaq, meanwhile, opened 5.14 points, or 0.49 percent, lower at 1,044.89 and extended losses to close at 1,026.03, down 24 points, or 2.29 percent, from the previous session.
In the foreign exchange market, the Korean won opened weaker at 1,512.0 per dollar, down 7.7 won from the previous session, before extending losses to close at 1,516.4 per dollar, weakening 12.1 won from a day earlier.