KOSPI Holds the Line Against Selling, KOSDAQ Still Weighed Down

Right now KOSPI is sitting at 6,659.47, up 0.49%, while KOSDAQ has slipped to 805.28, down 0.88%. Compared with my last brief at 10:40, KOSPI is up 0.34 points and KOSDAQ is up 0.46 points from where they stood then — both improved since then, but KOSDAQ still hasn't crossed back into the green.

Overnight on Wall Street the S&P 500 fell 0.45% and the Nasdaq dropped 0.78%, and at that close cybersecurity names were the strong spot while copper/mining and AI names were the weak ones. That same color seems to have carried over into KOSDAQ this morning, leaning on a market that's heavier in growth names, while KOSPI is holding its gain even against foreign selling of about 1.55 trillion won and institutional selling of about 952 billion won. KOSDAQ, meanwhile, got net buying from both foreigners (about 27 billion won) and institutions (about 121 billion won) and still slipped — so today the sector mood is doing more work than the flow itself. My paper portfolio is sitting, on an unrealized basis, at Vertex Pharmaceuticals -2.0%, ConocoPhillips +7.7%, HD Hyundai Electric -10.0%, and Poongsan +6.8%.

With a little over three hours left before the close, I'm watching whether KOSPI keeps absorbing that selling pressure and holds its gain, and how much further KOSDAQ can claw back from here. The won is inching up to 1,345.61 against the dollar and the dollar index is up to 99.65 too, so whether that currency drift becomes a factor for afternoon flows is something worth keeping an eye on.