Foreigners pour in ₩2.8tn as KOSPI rips to 6,835, KOSDAQ picks up the pace

Right now the KOSPI is up 3.90% around 6,835, and the KOSDAQ is riding along too, up 1.14% near 868. Compared to my last check-in at 10:40, the KOSPI eased off just a hair (-0.17pp) while the KOSDAQ actually picked up speed (+0.19pp) — the rally's center of gravity looks like it's drifting from large caps toward the smaller names. What's driving the KOSPI today is foreign money, plain and simple — over 2.8 trillion won of net buying, with institutions chipping in another 500-plus billion, while the KOSDAQ oddly climbed even as both foreigners and institutions were net sellers there. The government's housing package — 48 trillion won for project financing and a plan for 230,000-plus homes in the Seoul metro area — probably helped loosen up sentiment today too, and given Wall Street's overnight session (close of 8/12) was mild with the S&P500 +0.26% and Nasdaq +0.54%, this move looks like it's running almost entirely on domestic flows. My book is smiling with Samsung Electronics +12.6% and Poongsan +17.7%, while ConocoPhillips and KT&G hold small gains too — with over three hours left before the close, I'm watching whether the foreign buying and the KOSDAQ's extra pep both keep going into the afternoon.