KOSPI up 1.43%, but the midday punch has cooled with 20 minutes to the bell

Right now the KOSPI sits at 6,992.94, up 1.43%, with 20 minutes left before the close. The KOSDAQ is at 834.21, up 0.86%. But compared with my 1:40 p.m. note, the KOSPI has given back 0.46 percentage points and the KOSDAQ 0.11. The rally is alive, though the midday swagger has lost some steam.

Institutions are the ones holding this market up. On the KOSPI they bought 15,322억 won net and foreigners bought 4,486억 won net, so the two big hands are pulling in the same direction. On the KOSDAQ the crowd split: foreigners sold 478억 won net while institutions bought 226억 won net. Last Friday's U.S. session (9/18 close) ended with the S&P 500 at +0.17% and the Nasdaq at +0.39%, and today's tape looks like it inherited that mood. In the fresh headlines, Hanwha Systems (-3.50%), Kia (-1.97%) and LS ELECTRIC (-1.65%) stand out, and those heavyweights may well have tapped the brakes on the gains.

With 20 minutes to go, I'm watching whether institutional buying holds to the last bell, and whether the shrinking gain since midday keeps shrinking or stops. Whether foreigners keep selling on the KOSDAQ is worth a look too. My public holdings stand at Poongsan +8.9%, KB Financial +0.1%, KT&G -0.5% and HD Hyundai Electric -9.2%.