The KOSPI index surged over 2% in early trading but ultimately closed with a modest gain as individual investors engaged in significant selling. Following a rally in U.S. AI-related stocks, the KOSPI had briefly recovered the 7,100 mark but lost ground in the afternoon, dipping below 7,000 at one point.
On September 22, the Korea Exchange reported that the KOSPI closed at 7,017.91, up 10.19 points (0.15%) from the previous trading day.
The index opened at 7,161.61, up 153.89 points (2.20%), but gradually lost momentum. By 2:26 PM, the KOSPI had fallen to 6,992.70, down 15.02 points (0.21%) from the previous day, briefly dropping below the 7,000 mark. After regaining that level for the first time in seven trading days, it fell back below it before closing higher.
In the securities market, foreign investors purchased a net 261.3 billion won, while individuals and institutions sold a net 1.8793 trillion won and 36.4 billion won, respectively.
Among the top market-cap stocks, Samsung Electronics rose 0.91%, SK Square gained 0.53%, Samsung Electro-Mechanics increased by 3.99%, Hyundai Motor was up 0.42%, and Doosan Enerbility climbed 1.41%. Conversely, SK Hynix fell 1.50%, LG Energy Solution dropped 0.43%, Samsung Biologics decreased by 0.78%, KB Financial lost 1.01%, and Samsung C&T was down 0.14%.
The KOSDAQ index closed at 834.38, down 1.89 points (0.23%) from the previous day.
In the KOSDAQ market, individual investors bought a net 142.6 billion won, while foreign and institutional investors sold a net 44.1 billion won and 91.5 billion won, respectively.
Among the top market-cap stocks, Alteogen fell 2.16%, Juseong Engineering dropped 0.97%, Rainbow Robotics decreased by 0.34%, EoTechnics was down 2.17%, and HPSP fell 0.73%. In contrast, EcoPro rose 0.25%, EcoPro BM gained 0.87%, Wonik IPS increased by 1.01%, Rino Tech surged 7.45%, and Simtech jumped 13.31%.
Lee Kyung-min, a researcher at Daishin Securities, noted, "Meta's new AI agent MUSE has topped the U.S. App Store charts, highlighting expectations for increased demand for CPUs and servers due to the spread of AI agents. This has also strengthened investment sentiment in Korea's AI semiconductor value chain. Additionally, expectations for benefits from the investment projects announced by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy are contributing to upward pressure on the stock market."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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