[Edaily Reporter Kwon Oh-seok] The KOSPI, which had been experiencing extreme volatility ahead of reaching the "9,000-point mark" (KOSPI 9,000), settled at the 8,800 level toward the end of the session, setting yet another record high.

According to MP Doctor on the 2nd, the KOSPI opened at 8,883.19, up 94.81 points (1.08%) from the previous trading day, and closed at 8,801.49, up 13.11 points (0.15%). The KOSPI, which rose as high as 8,933.62 early in the session, coming within striking distance of the 9,000 mark, soon turned downward and fell as low as 8,503.12. The KOSPI struggled to escape a downward trend throughout the session but turned upward just before the market closed.
In the KOSPI market that day, retail and institutional investors supported the index by net buying 6.3481 trillion won and 240.9 billion won, respectively. In contrast, foreign investors alone sold off 6.5941 trillion won. By trading type, combined arbitrage and non-arbitrage trading showed a net selling position of 4.8233 trillion won.
Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, analyzed, "The domestic stock market showed volatility as profit-taking emerged due to concerns over short-term overheating and accumulated fatigue from the rally," adding, "The expansion of net selling by foreign investors acted as downward pressure on stock prices." He added, “A sell-off occurred primarily among leading stocks that had recently surged,” noting, “Although net buying by retail investors increased, the index showed a bearish trend due to a lack of supply from financial investment firms and institutions.”
In the KOSPI market that day, only large-cap stocks rose by 0.30%, while mid-cap stocks fell by 1.89% and small-cap stocks by 1.28%. By sector, insurance rose 12.18%, telecommunications 6.36%, and retail 4.71%, while metals fell 3.86%, machinery and equipment 3.69%, and construction 3.69%.
Top-market-cap stocks showed mixed performance. According to the Korea Exchange, #Samsung Electronics traded at 360,500 won, up 11,500 won (3.30%) from the previous trading day, while #SK Hynix traded at 2.36 million won, down 3,000 won (0.13%) over the same period. #SK Square rose 90,000 won (7.17%) to 1,346,000 won, while #Samsung Electro-Mechanics fell 192,000 won (9.58%) to 1,813,000 won.
Samsung Electronics, in particular, drew attention after a survey revealed that it had entered the top 10 global publicly traded companies by market capitalization. According to the U.S. market capitalization tracking site “CompaniesMarketCap.com,” Samsung Electronics’ stock price rose 1.29% during the trading session, increasing its market capitalization to $1.535 trillion. As a result, Samsung Electronics moved up one spot from 11th to 10th place, surpassing Meta Platforms ($1.524 trillion), the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
The gap with Tesla ($1.561 trillion), currently in 9th place, is only $26 billion, so further changes in the rankings are possible if the stock price continues to rise. NVIDIA ($5.434 trillion) currently holds the top spot.
Meanwhile, the KOSDAQ index opened at 1,044.89, down 5.14 points (0.49%) from the previous trading day, and closed at 1,026.03, down 24.00 points (2.29%).
In the KOSDAQ market, retail investors were the only net sellers, offloading 409 billion won, while foreign and institutional investors were net buyers of 310.6 billion won and 128.5 billion won, respectively. By trading type, combined arbitrage and non-arbitrage trades showed a net buying advantage of 251.1 billion won.