South Korean stocks traded mixed early Thursday, with the Kospi turning lower as foreign investors sold after a modestly higher open.
As of 9:14 a.m., the Kospi was down 12.92 points, or 0.20%, at 6462.89, according to the Korea Exchange. The benchmark opened up 20.29 points, or 0.31%, at 6496.10 before reversing course.
Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said the market was likely to face profit-taking pressure early in the session amid “fatigue” after a short-term peak, Middle East-related noise and weakness in U.S. stocks. She said that could limit gains during the day, while sector and stock rotation may continue on company-specific earnings events.
Overnight, Wall Street ended lower after heightened Middle East military tensions fueled intraday volatility. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 179.71 points, or 0.36%, to 49,310.32. The S&P 500 dropped 29.50 points, or 0.41%, to 7,108.40, and the Nasdaq slid 219.06 points, or 0.89%, to 24,438.50.
In the main board market, individuals and institutions were net buyers of 263.8 billion won and 86.5 billion won, respectively, while foreigners were net sellers of 344.4 billion won.
Among large-cap shares, Samsung Electronics fell 2.00%, SK hynix slipped 0.33%, Hyundai Motor dropped 3.01%, SK Square fell 0.55% and Kia declined 2.08%. LG Energy Solution rose 1.93%, Doosan Enerbility gained 1.22%, Hanwha Aerospace jumped 5.68%, Samsung Biologics added 0.33% and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries climbed 2.18%.
The Kosdaq was up 1.00 point, or 0.09%, at 1175.31 at the same time. It opened up 2.11 points, or 0.18%, at 1176.42.
In the Kosdaq market, individuals were net buyers of 72.7 billion won, while foreigners and institutions were net sellers of 29.1 billion won and 33.7 billion won, respectively.
Among top Kosdaq stocks, EcoPro BM rose 0.24%, Alteogen gained 0.42% and Samchundang Pharm climbed 2.11%. EcoPro fell 0.45%, Rainbow Robotics slipped 0.83% and Lino Industrial dropped 1.95%.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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