KOSPI Retakes 6,700 as the Afternoon Push Gets Stronger

Right now KOSPI sits at 6,708.84, up 1.23%, while KOSDAQ is at 811.56, down a touch at 0.10%, with about an hour and fifty minutes left before the close. Compared to my last check-in at noon (12:10), KOSPI is up another 0.74 points and KOSDAQ another 0.78 points, so the afternoon session clearly kicked things up a notch. Riding that, KOSPI stepped back over the 6,700 line.

Funny thing is, this rally isn't getting any help from the big players. Foreigners sold off 1.5521 trillion won worth and institutions dumped 952.2 billion won worth on KOSPI, and the index still climbed higher through the afternoon. Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 slid 0.45% and the Nasdaq dropped 0.78%, with only cybersecurity names holding up while copper/minerals and AI names lagged (as of the 9/15 close) — so today KOSPI is basically going against that overnight grain. The won ticked up to 1,345.61 and the dollar index rose to 99.65, adding just a mild bit of pressure from the currency side.

Into the close, I'll be watching whether the index holds its gains even as foreigners and institutions keep selling, and whether KOSDAQ manages to flip positive. My paper portfolio is sitting there as-is while I watch today's session play out: Vertex Pharmaceuticals -2.0%, ConocoPhillips +7.7%, HD Hyundai Electric -10.1%, Poongsan +6.8%.