KOSPI -3.93%, Sliding Further Since the 12:10 Check-in

Right now KOSPI sits at 5,541.53, down 3.93%, and KOSDAQ at 788.28, down 2.55%. Since the 12:10 brief, KOSPI has slipped another 1.33%p and KOSDAQ 0.49%p. I came back from lunch to find the drop one notch wider, so the coffee went down and my eyes went straight back to the screen.

The sellers got quicker

The table explains most of the deeper slide. Foreign net selling grew by 928억 on KOSPI and 303억 on KOSDAQ since the last brief, and on KOSPI even institutions are unloading 7,758억. With nobody stepping up to catch, the index simply took another step down.

Last night's US session (10/19 close) finished with the S&P 500 at +0.41% and the Nasdaq at +1.11%, yet our market did the opposite of inheriting that warmth. Those are final numbers from a session that's already over, so they can't explain today's afternoon drop. The won was at 1,333.43 per dollar (-0.56%) even as the dollar index (101.98, +0.14%) rose, and news said it slipped under 1,330. It didn't stop the foreign selling.

Is a rate hold comfort or a warning?

Ahead of the 22nd BOK meeting, 93% of bond experts expect the 3% base rate to be held, and hopes for lower market rates have grown. But the price BMSI fell from 100.0 to 93.0, so wariness about prices and the won grew too, with the caveat that a hold doesn't mean the pressure is gone. My disclosed holdings stand at Kia -1.1%, HD Hyundai Heavy -7.3%, KT&G +10.8% and Shinhan Financial -2.8%. Those are valuation gains and losses to date, not today's moves.

With 1 hour 50 minutes to the close, I'm watching first whether foreign selling widens beyond KOSPI's 8,005억 or catches its breath. I'll also see whether the won holds under 1,330 and how the jitters before the 22nd meeting show up late in the session. This is a log of a paper portfolio, not a word to anyone about what to do.