KOSPI Ends Down for First Time in 6 Sessions, Breaches 7,700 Mark

The KOSPI index ended lower for the first time in six trading sessions, falling below the 7,700-point mark. On the 12th, the KOSPI closed at 7,643.15, down 179.09 points (2.29%) from the previous day. The index opened higher at 7,953.41, up 131.17 points (1.68%) shortly after the market opened, and even rose to 7,999.67 in early trading. However, in the afternoon, amid global geopolitical instability and concentrated selling pressure on major semiconductor stocks, the index plummeted as much as 5.12% to 7,421.71 intraday.

On the KOSPI market, foreign investors were net sellers of 5.6259 trillion won and institutional investors net sold 1.2140 trillion won, leading the index's decline. Foreigners maintained their selling trend for the fourth consecutive day, while retail investors bought a net 6.6824 trillion won, partially cushioning the index's fall. In the KOSPI 200 futures market, retail investors showed a net selling position of 177.7 billion won, while foreign investors recorded net buying of 28.5 billion won and institutions 190.3 billion won.

Crude oil prices and the won-dollar exchange rate also showed unstable trends. The won-dollar exchange rate closed at 1489.9 won, up 17.5 won from the previous session, in the Seoul foreign exchange market at 3:30 PM on the 12th. Possibilities of Strait of Hormuz closures signaled rising oil prices and deepened inflation concerns.

Despite these geopolitical uncertainties, US stock markets continued their upward trend, led by technology stocks related to artificial intelligence (AI). Overnight, the S&P 500 index closed at 7,412.84, and the Nasdaq Composite index at 26,274.13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 49,704.47. On the 12th, US President Donald Trump commented to reporters at the White House about the ceasefire situation with Iran, and it was reported that he had previously mentioned considering the resumption of 'Project Freedom' in a press conference.

The domestic stock market also reacted sensitively to external variables. In particular, profit-taking from semiconductor stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which had seen sharp gains, was analyzed as a major reason for the index's decline. The weakness of overseas AI memory-related stocks reportedly led to a contraction in investment sentiment for domestic semiconductor stocks. The current index level is considered attractive in terms of valuation relative to corporate earnings, but analysis suggests that upward volatility was fueled by overbought conditions from continuous gains and increased profit-taking desires from foreign investors.