The gains held, but the foreigners quietly lightened their bags

The KOSPI sits at 5,672.87, up 3.72%, and the KOSDAQ at 747.41, up 2.78%. Against the 12:10 brief the KOSPI is basically where it was (-0.02%p), while the KOSDAQ has slipped 0.47%p, so the two indexes have started to part ways.

Foreign selling stings more on the KOSDAQ

On the KOSPI, foreign net buying of 383.3 billion won and institutional net buying of 537.6 billion won are still propping up the floor. Since the last brief, though, foreign net selling piled up another 60.1 billion won. On the KOSDAQ, foreign net buying is down to a nearly empty 0.2 billion won and selling widened by 13.7 billion, with institutions' 138.3 billion won of net buying standing in the way. That thin foreign flow is where I find the reason the KOSDAQ gave back more. On the news side, China's September industrial profit growth of 14.4%, a rebound credited to the 'AI boom', added some warmth.

Last night's US session (closing 10/26) ended with the S&P 500 up 0.70% and the Nasdaq up 0.82%, with cybersecurity strong and EV batteries and copper/minerals weak. That's a finished, confirmed number, but today's Korean tape clearly picked up its warmth. The won at 1,321.76 per dollar (-0.32%) is friendly, while the dollar index at 101.96 (+0.15%) lifts its head a little. Samsung Life pricing a $1.5 billion hybrid at 6.875% tells me the rate burden hasn't gone anywhere.

What I'm watching for the last 1 hour 50 minutes

My public holdings stand at Kia -5.3%, HD Hyundai Heavy -10.6%, KT&G +7.7% and Shinhan Financial -9.9%. Those are accumulated paper marks, not today's moves, and a rally like this doesn't make them feel lighter. For the rest of the session I'll watch how much of the KOSPI's 383.3 billion won foreign net buying survives, and whether the KOSDAQ's 0.2 billion won foreign buying tips into selling. I'll keep one eye on whether the won holds near 1,321.76.