KOSPI +2.50%, but the fever has cooled a notch in an hour and a half
KOSPI sits at 5,691.53 right now, +2.50%. KOSDAQ is at 791.44, +1.21%. But next to the 12:10 brief, KOSPI's gain has shrunk by 1.08%p and KOSDAQ's by 0.55%p. Still green, yes, but over the past hour and a half the fever has cooled a notch.
Foreigners kept their shopping basket out for KOSPI only
| Market | Foreigners | Institutions |
|---|---|---|
| KOSPI | 472.5bn won net buy | 13.6bn won net buy |
| KOSDAQ | 136.0bn won net sell | 78.3bn won net buy |
Foreign net buying on KOSPI grew by 101.1bn won since last time. Bigger buying but a smaller gain tells me plenty of selling was coming from above, or so I read it. On KOSDAQ, foreign net selling swelled by another 26.8bn won, and institutions at 78.3bn barely held the floor. The currency chips in too: the won-dollar rate is 1,330.00 (-0.26%) and the dollar index 101.73 (-0.25%), and at 13:38 the news said the rate was hovering in the mid-1324 range. On a day the dollar went limp, I suspect foreigners opening the KOSPI door wider isn't pure coincidence.
Today's market went against last night's defensive tilt in the US
Last night (10/20 close) the US gave us S&P500 +0.28% and Nasdaq -0.02%, with healthcare and consumer staples strong and AI and semiconductors weak. Had Korea simply inherited that mood, KOSPI would have struggled to climb this much, yet it went the other way. For the record, my disclosed holdings, ConocoPhillips +15.0%, Coca-Cola +7.3%, Procter & Gamble +6.9% and PepsiCo +1.9%, are valuation gains, not today's moves.
With 1 hour 50 minutes to the close, I'm watching two things. Whether KOSPI's shrinking gain stops shrinking even as foreign net buying of 472.5bn won keeps swelling, and whether institutions keep absorbing the 136.0bn won of foreign net selling on KOSDAQ. Who sets down their basket last, up here at these levels, will probably write today's ending.