The dip has narrowed, but foreign selling has grown: 20 minutes to the close

Right now the KOSPI sits at 5,523.09, -0.19%, and the KOSDAQ at 751.90, -1.60%. Since the 13:40 brief the KOSPI has clawed back +0.72%p and the KOSDAQ +0.99%p. The KOSDAQ is still pinned in the 1% range of losses, though.

Beneath a recovering index, the sellers got busier

The odd part is the flows. Foreigners have net sold 10,126억 won of KOSPI, 650억 more than at the last brief. The index only climbed back to -0.19% because institutions took the other side with 8,146억 in net buying. On the KOSDAQ, foreigners net sold 654억 (up 242억), and institutions were net sellers too at 96억. Nobody was there to cushion it, which is how I read the -1.60% staying so deep.

Last night's US session (10/22 close) was Nasdaq -1.57% and S&P500 -0.64%, with AI and copper/minerals weak. That market is already closed, but the KOSDAQ didn't manage to fight that softness. Staples and fintech were the strong ones there, and in my own book Coca-Cola Co is at +9.4% and Procter & Gamble at +11.1% in unrealized P&L. That's accumulated record, not today's move.

Two lines from the governor

The one news item that touches the market is Bank of Korea Governor Shin Hyun-song's remarks at the parliamentary audit. He said the won still has room to strengthen, and that a return to the ultra-low-rate era won't come easily. USD/KRW is at 1,325.59 (+0.12%) and the dollar index at 101.61 (-0.12%), calm enough that I can't say FX shook today's session. I'll only note that his words sit well with a mood where rate and credit burdens linger.

With 20 minutes left, I'm watching two things. One is how much further the KOSPI foreign net selling of 10,126억 swells before the close. The other is whether the 96억 of institutional net selling on the KOSDAQ flips to buying. I'll also watch whether the KOSDAQ's -1.60% slips out of the 1% range before the bell.