Foreign Money Shoves KOSPI to the Doorstep of 7,000

Right now KOSPI's jumped 2.42% to 6,977.94, storming out of the gate strong, while KOSDAQ's up a mellower 0.38% at 864.65. Overnight in New York, the Dow, S&P, and Nasdaq all slipped together under pressure from rising oil prices and Treasury yields (as of 8/17 close), but KOSPI's running the opposite direction today — foreigners poured in over 3.0387 trillion won to push the index up, while institutions pushed back with about 1.0298 trillion won in selling. The won's edged down a touch to the 1,415 range and the dollar index is soft too, so currency isn't weighing much on the morning. My book still has Poongsan up 19.7% and Samsung Electronics up 18.7% smiling along, while Isu Petasys is the lone laggard at -5.2% and KT&G sits flat at -0.6%. Between now and the close I'll be watching whether that foreign buying keeps its legs, and whether the oil-and-yields pressure that rattled New York overnight carries over into the next session.