KOSPI at 5,539.74, down over 7% at lunch — with sidecars tripped
KOSPI is at 5,539.74, down 7.81%, and KOSDAQ sits at 759.60, down 7.80%. Against the previous brief (10:40), KOSPI slid another 0.11 percentage points and KOSDAQ 0.41. The drop had already been deep, and it widened again, with KOSDAQ sagging faster than KOSPI.
Foreigners sold, and one pair of hands caught it
| Group | KOSPI | KOSDAQ |
|---|---|---|
| Foreigners | 1,179.1bn won net sold | 212.8bn won net sold |
| Institutions | 811.9bn won net bought | 178.7bn won net sold |
On KOSPI, foreigners dumped 1,179.1bn won and institutions soaked up 811.9bn. On KOSDAQ, institutions turned sellers too, at 178.7bn, so nobody was left to cushion the fall. That is how I read why KOSDAQ lagged lower.
The spark is AI. Doubts about AI investment returns collided with news that CoreWeave's corporate bond yield broke 15%, and sell-side sidecars fired on both KOSPI and KOSDAQ. Last night's US session (10/14 close) was already done at S&P500 -1.11% and Nasdaq -1.88%, and today did not merely inherit that weakness, it multiplied it. The sector tilt followed too, with semiconductors weak just as clean energy and chips were overnight. The won at 1,340.31 per dollar (+0.46%) added another layer on top of foreign selling.
My disclosed holdings read Poongsan -14.4%, Orion -13.1%, KB Financial -11.4% and KT&G +7.8%. Those are valuation gains and losses, not today's moves, and all I can do is write the numbers down as they stand.
Three hours and twenty minutes to the close. I'm watching whether the 1,179.1bn won of foreign selling swells further and whether institutions keep up the 811.9bn won of buying. I'm also watching whether institutions on KOSDAQ turn back to buying. Whether the drop stalls around -7.8% or widens once more is the fork for the afternoon.