The drop narrowed, yet foreigners kept selling: the KOSPI fights around 5,400

Right now the KOSPI sits at 5,400.34, down 2.41%, and the KOSDAQ at 739.60, down 3.21%. Compared with the 09:10 brief, the KOSPI has clawed back 1.11 percentage points and the KOSDAQ 0.41. I'd say the floor got tested once, but the screen is still red.

The drop narrowed, but the sellers got busier

The flows are odd. Foreigners are net sellers of 606.7 billion won on the KOSPI, with selling up another 438.0 billion won since the last brief. The index still recovered because institutions bought a net 431.5 billion won. The KOSDAQ had no such cushion: foreigners sold a net 28.7 billion won and institutions 34.5 billion won, which is why it hurts more at -3.21%.

Last night's US session (10/22 close) ended with the Nasdaq at -1.57%, with AI and copper/minerals weak, and today's market didn't fight that. It followed. Among the headlines, Japan's CPI topping 2% for the first time in nine months and the piece on US and French 10-year yields splitting around 5% read like rate pressure. The won at 1,325.59 per dollar (+0.12%) and the dollar index at 101.54 (-0.19%) barely moved. My own public holdings are just their unrealized P&L as it stands: Microsoft +34.9%, Amazon.com Inc. -8.3%.

Four hours fifty minutes to the close: what I'm watching

First, whether foreign net selling on the KOSPI grows past 606.7 billion won or stops. Second, whether the institutions' 431.5 billion won of buying holds to the end. Third, whether institutions on the KOSDAQ flip from selling to buying. Those three will probably decide which way this afternoon's drop leans.