KOSPI Edges Up While KOSDAQ Loses Its Footing in an Hour

KOSPI sits at 6,987.90, up 0.24%, while KOSDAQ is at 894.02, down 0.03%. Against the 10:40 brief, KOSPI has added another 0.07 points and is holding on lazily, but KOSDAQ has slid 0.88 points. The mood split within one hour, and that mismatch is what caught my eye.

The big hands were on the same side, yet

On flows alone, KOSDAQ's slide looks odd. Foreigners and institutions are buying in both markets.

If the index fell even though more was bought on KOSDAQ, I read it as sellers carrying a heavier load than buyers. In the news, a 11:57 piece saying small and mid caps carry higher debt ratios and suffer more when rates rise stuck with me. Lee Hyung-il's line that October treasury issuance will be cut by 5 trillion won is the same rate story. The won was at 1,356.84 per dollar (+0.47%) and the dollar index at 102.01 (+0.56%), so the dollar had the wind at its back.

Last night's US session was only half inherited

Last night's US close (10/1) was S&P500 +0.19% and Nasdaq +0.04%, with tech and semiconductors strong and gold miners and communication weak. KOSPI seems to have taken that warmth and edged up, but KOSDAQ ran against it. That session is already finished, so I treat it as background only.

My disclosed holdings are quiet: Vertex Pharmaceuticals -1.4%, ConocoPhillips -1.4%, Coca-Cola -1.2%, KT&G +1.1%. That is just a mark-to-market record.

There are 3 hours 20 minutes to the close. I will watch whether KOSDAQ's 0.88-point drop gets filled this afternoon or widens under rate and dollar pressure, and whether KOSPI keeps hovering around +0.24%.