The Morning's Fizz Has Gone Flat, and Only the Flows Are Holding at 10:40

Right now the KOSPI sits at 6,983.24, up 0.17%, and the KOSDAQ at 901.93, up 0.85%. Against the 09:10 brief, the KOSPI has slipped 1.78 percentage points and the KOSDAQ 3.63. The fizz that lifted the numbers this morning went flat in about ninety minutes, so I'm watching a market catching its breath.

The sell talk was loud, but the wallets stayed open

The opening-market stories mentioned foreign 'selling,' but the current tally tells a different tale.

The index cooled, yet the big players are still buying on both boards, so I read this as heat leaving the room, not the roof caving in. Still, with the won at 1,356.84 per dollar (+0.47%) and the dollar index at 102.07 (+0.61%), I suspect the currency is quietly tugging at the index's ankle.

Last night's mood carried over only halfway

Overnight Wall Street (10/1 close) finished with the S&P 500 up 0.19% and the Nasdaq up 0.04%, tech and semiconductors leading. That session is long settled, but the KOSDAQ's +0.85% outrunning the KOSPI suggests some of the warmth did cross the ocean. Gold miners and communication stocks were weak overnight, and gold prices slipping here points the same way, which fits a strong-dollar day. Lingering rate and credit worries in an otherwise quiet mood are my note on why the morning heat didn't last.

My disclosed holdings stand at Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated -1.4%, ConocoPhillips -1.4%, Coca-Cola Co -1.2% and KT&G +1.1%. Those are accumulated valuation gains and losses, not today's moves.

There are 4 hours 50 minutes to the close. I'll be watching whether the foreign and institutional net buying holds at this size, and whether the won drifts further from 1,356.84. I'll also see if the KOSDAQ keeps its lead over the KOSPI into the afternoon.