KOSPI Recovers 8800 Mark, Nears 9000 Milestone

The domestic stock market closed higher on the 17th, recovering to the 8800 mark. The KOSPI index finished the day at 8864.24, up 1.58% from the previous trading day. While the market dipped to the 8600 level early in the session, influenced by the decline in U.S. semiconductor stocks, it successfully recouped its losses and staged a rebound, driven by the strong performance of major stocks such as SK Hynix. Retail investors and institutions were net buyers, purchasing 543.1 billion won and 577.7 billion won worth of stocks respectively, leading the index's rise, while foreign investors were net sellers, offloading 993.1 billion won.

Among top market capitalization stocks, SK Square (6.33%) and SK Hynix (5.84%) hit new record highs, showing strong performance. The KOSPI's upward trend reflected expectations of easing oil prices and interest rate burdens. With the resolution of peace talks between the U.S. and Iran, Brent crude and WTI fell into the $70s, leading to analyses that concerns over energy-driven inflation have decreased. Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, noted that the decline in international oil prices has lowered concerns about energy-driven inflation.

Meanwhile, the KOSDAQ index closed at 1031.96, up 13.28 points (1.30%) from the previous day. Foreign investors led the gains, with net purchases of 31.9 billion won, while institutions and retail investors were net sellers, offloading 17.1 billion won and 18.5 billion won respectively.

In the Seoul foreign exchange market, the dollar-won exchange rate closed at 1513.4 won per dollar, up 1.8 won from the previous day. Lee Min-hyuk, an economist at KB Kookmin Bank, explained that settlement demand at the early 1500s level is providing support for the lower bound.

Despite investor caution ahead of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, the domestic stock market continued its upward trend, led by the semiconductor and bio sectors.