Open Weighed Down by Won Strength, Though the Drop Eased a Touch

Right now the Kospi sits at 6,684.37, down 3.26%, and the Kosdaq at 806.79, down 1.69%, just past the opening bell. Compared with the last briefing, the Kospi's decline actually narrowed by 0.17 percentage points while the Kosdaq barely moved at -0.01 point — on the index alone, it looks like the overnight panic cooled off just a touch.

Overnight, the S&P 500 fell 0.48% and the Nasdaq 0.56%, with cybersecurity names the lone bright spot while copper, mining, and AI names sagged — and the Kospi opened carrying that same weak handoff. On top of that came a stronger won, with the won-dollar rate sliding to 1,344.64; headlines piled up on August export prices dropping sharply in a month and pieces flatly calling the won's strength "too fast," pointing straight at the pressure it's putting on the Kospi. Sure enough, foreign net selling on the Kospi grew by another 1.0391 trillion won from the last briefing, while on the Kosdaq the selling eased by 220 billion won — money splitting in two different directions under the same won-strength backdrop.

On my paper portfolio side, Microsoft is holding up at +27.9%, ConocoPhillips at +7.7%, and Freeport-McMoRan at +3.4%, while Nvidia sits alone in the red at -1.1%. With more than six hours left before the close, I'm keeping an eye on whether this won-strength pace lets up and whether foreign selling on the Kospi keeps growing.