SEOUL, October 16 (AJP) - Foreign investors turned net buyers of South Korean stocks on Friday for the first time in nine sessions, but the rebound after the previous day's crash recovered less than a quarter of the losses before losing steam sharply.
The benchmark KOSPI rose 113.83 points or 2.05 percent to close at 5,668.05 after climbing as high as 5,809.94 during the session. The tech-heavy KOSDAQ also jumped 33.96 points or 4.46 percent, triggering a buy-sidecar, a five-minute suspension of program buying.
The foreign buying came to 172.1 billion won (US$129.1 million), a fraction of the more than 3.6 trillion won ($2.7 billion) foreign investors dumped a day earlier. Local institutions and retail investors sold into the rally.
Institutions sold a net 555.9 billion won ($417.1 million) and individuals sold 443.4 billion won ($332.7 million).
Foreign investors had been net sellers for eight straight sessions through Thursday, as doubts over returns on artificial intelligence (AI)-related spending and hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data hit chip stocks.
Gainers outnumbered decliners 729 to 166. Samsung Electronics rose 2.6 percent to 215,500 won ($161.69). Chipmaker SK hynix added 0.8 percent to 1,272,000 won ($954.38), trailing its larger rival by 1.8 percentage points.
Buying spread beyond chips. Hyundai Motor jumped 5.6 percent to 312,000 won ($234.09) and Samsung Biologics rose 4.1 percent to 1,298,000 won ($973.89).
The KOSDAQ added 33.13 points to 793.95, retaking more than half of Thursday's 7.7 percent slide.
The Korea Exchange, the country's bourse operator, halted program buy orders on the junior market after KOSDAQ 150 futures rose more than 6 percent. It was the 19th buy sidecar on the KOSDAQ this year and came a day after a sell sidecar and a 20-minute trading halt.
Chip test equipment maker Neosem soared 13.9 percent to 14,960 won ($11.22).
Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.4 percent and Shanghai traded above Thursday's close.
The Nikkei 225 rose 1.4 percent in Tokyo to 65,324.29, recovering 898.34 points after sliding 4.9 percent on Thursday in its steepest daily drop since March. Market analysts tied the rebound to falling U.S. Treasury yields and Wall Street's late recovery.
The composite index in Shanghai was up 1.0 percent at 3,742.66 in late trade, after closing Thursday at its lowest level since August 2025.
The South Korean won strengthened 9.7 won to 1,332.8 per dollar.
The KOSPI still sits 19.2 percent below its Oct. 2 close of 7,003.74. One session of foreign buying, worth less than 5 percent of Thursday's sale, looks like a pause in the exit rather than a return.
AJP Takeaways
- Foreign investors bought a net 172.1 billion won ($129.1 million) of KOSPI shares on Oct. 16, ending an eight-session selling streak in Korean stocks, though the purchase was a fraction of the more than 3.6 trillion won ($2.7 billion) they net sold on Oct. 15.
- Korea's KOSDAQ jumped 4.4 percent on Oct. 16, outpacing the KOSPI's 1.9 percent gain, and the Korea Exchange briefly halted KOSDAQ program buy orders when KOSDAQ 150 futures rose more than 6 percent.
- SK hynix rose 0.8 percent to 1,272,000 won ($954.38) on Oct. 16, trailing Samsung Electronics' 2.6 percent gain to 215,500 won ($161.69).
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