KOSPI Is Back Above 7,000, but KOSDAQ Took a Step Back

KOSPI is at 7,005.12, up 1.61%, and it has climbed back above 7,000 intraday for the first time in eight sessions. Since my 10:40 note it has added another 0.14 points, so the morning's strength hasn't faded, while KOSDAQ, up 1.02%, has slipped 0.17 points over the same stretch. The big ship is pulling ahead and the small one is lagging a bit.

The reason shows up in where the money went. On KOSPI, institutions bought 1.5322 trillion won net and foreigners 448.6 billion, holding the index up. On KOSDAQ, foreigners sold 47.8 billion, and the institutions' 22.6 billion in net buying couldn't cover it. The news that US chip stocks were strong lit the fuse for the 7,000 recovery. Last US session (Sep 18 close) ended with the S&P 500 up 0.17% and the Nasdaq up 0.39%, with cybersecurity strong and utilities and financials weak. Our market followed the chip tailwind more than that sector map.

For the remaining three hours and twenty minutes, I'm watching two things. One is whether foreign and institutional buying holds above 7,000. The other is whether foreign selling on KOSDAQ eases. Wall Street headlines still carry worries about the 10-year yield at 5% and oil at 104 dollars, so I'm noting them as things that could cool the afternoon. As for my holdings, Microsoft sits at +24.9% and Amazon at -11.4%, still a wide gap between them.