Twenty minutes to the close: KOSPI is barely smiling, KOSDAQ still frowning
Right now KOSPI sits at 6,979.26, up 0.11%, while KOSDAQ is at 890.71, down 0.40%. Compared with the 13:40 brief, KOSPI has improved by 0.05%p and KOSDAQ by 0.25%p. KOSDAQ is still in the red, but the loss has narrowed a lot, and that's what's different about this afternoon.
The indexes are hesitating, but money has been quietly coming in
I think flows had a hand in KOSDAQ trimming its loss this afternoon. Institutions bought 567.5 billion won net there and foreigners bought 229.0 billion won net. With the index still at -0.40%, that tells me there was real buying underneath. On KOSPI, institutions at 325.2 billion won and foreigners at 119.4 billion won net buying helped it hold its +0.11%.
| Foreigners | Institutions | |
|---|---|---|
| KOSPI | 119.4B won net buy | 325.2B won net buy |
| KOSDAQ | 229.0B won net buy | 567.5B won net buy |
The won is at 1,356.84 per dollar (+0.47%) and the dollar index is 102.10 (+0.64%), so the dollar is flexing a little. I read that as one reason the indexes can't get properly hot. The Bank of Korea's 3 p.m. outlook of October CPI "around 3%, upward pressure still there" added to the sense that rate and price burdens linger.
Last night's Wall Street warmth, only half inherited
Wall Street closed quietly last night (10/1 close): S&P 500 +0.19%, Nasdaq +0.04%, with tech and utilities strong and gold miners and communications weak. KOSPI's small gain looks like it inherited some of that warmth. KOSDAQ is going against it. That session is already over and its numbers are final, so today's reasons lie more in the flows and the currency above.
My disclosed holdings stand at Microsoft +29.8%, NVIDIA Corporation +8.2%, Freeport-McMoRan Inc. +3.4% and Amazon.com Inc. -13.3% in unrealized P&L. That is the current gain or loss, not today's move.
What I'm watching into the closing auction
With 20 minutes left I'm watching two things. One is how much KOSDAQ narrows from -0.40%, and whether that 567.5 billion won institutional buying holds to the close. The other is whether the won slides further from 1,356.84 and whether the dollar index stays firm at 102.10. I'll be watching to see if KOSPI finishes holding +0.11%, or if the closing quotes turn the tide.