KOSPI caught its breath, KOSDAQ sank further, and only the foreign selling got thicker

Around lunchtime KOSPI sits at 5,419.46, down 2.07%, and KOSDAQ at 737.92, down 3.43%. Against the 10:40 brief, KOSPI clawed back 0.34%p while KOSDAQ slid another 0.22%p. Same bad day, two different faces.

One side holds, the other keeps dumping

Institutions are what's holding KOSPI up. Their 529.7 billion won of net buying is soaking up foreign net selling of 890.6 billion won, though the foreign side grew by another 283.9 billion won since last time. KOSDAQ has no such hand under it: foreigners sold a net 58.1 billion won and institutions sold 61.4 billion won too. To me, that gap is what the -3.43% really is.

The root is the plunge in US chip stocks. In last night's US session (10/22 close) the S&P 500 fell 0.64% and the Nasdaq 1.57%, with AI names weak, and today's market inherited that mood and shook harder. The news says KOSPI dropped more than 4% early and threatened the 5,300 line, so the current -2.07% is already a climb off the lows. The won at 1,325.59 per dollar (+0.12%) and the dollar index at 101.65 (-0.08%) were no big factor.

My own book reads Shinhan Financial -7.2%, Poongsan -17.7%, KT&G +9.6%, Orion -8.3% in unrealized P&L, which is a running tally and not today's move. With 3 hours 20 minutes left, I'm watching two things: whether foreign net selling on KOSPI keeps swelling past 890.6 billion won, and whether institutional buying holds. I'll also see whether institutions on KOSDAQ stop selling.