KOSPI's Late-Session Rally, Pushed by Foreign and Institutional Buying Together

Right now KOSPI is sitting at 7,159.13 (+2.34%), and the momentum hasn't faded even into the late session. Compared to the last brief at 12:10, KOSPI climbed another 0.47 percentage points while KOSDAQ barely budged, up just 0.06 — so the gap between large caps and small caps is widening. The fuel behind this is foreign and institutional investors both loading up on KOSPI, each net-buying in the trillions of won, while on KOSDAQ both flipped to net selling, which is why it's staying so quiet there. Considering the last US session (close on 9/4) had the S&P and Nasdaq both finish slightly lower, today KOSPI is pushing against that mood on domestic flows alone, and the won strengthening to the 1,345 level (-0.76%) reflects that same buying pressure. In my book, Poongsan is up 11.2% and Samsung Electronics up 10.5%, while Deuksan Neolux sits at -10.6% and KT&G at -3.0% — just marks, not calls — and with an hour fifty left, I'm watching whether this foreign-institutional buying holds all the way to the close.