[E-Daily Reporter Kwon Oh Seok ] The KOSPI, which had been falling day after day since the start of this week, managed to rebound slightly. Amid a flood of sell orders from retail investors, foreign and institutional investors stepped in to absorb the selling pressure, leading to a tug-of-war between buyers and sellers.

According to MP Doctor on the 9th, the KOSPI opened at 7,486.64, up 239.85 points (3.31%) from the previous trading day, and closed at 7,291.91, up 45.12 points (0.62%). The KOSPI, which had been on an upward trend early in the session, rose to an intraday high of 7,543.86 before quickly turning lower and falling to 7,063.76, resulting in a volatile trading session. Prior to this, the KOSPI had fallen for three consecutive trading days from the 6th to the 8th, plummeting from the 8,000 level to the low 7,000s.
The securities industry attributes the intraday reversal in the market’s upward trend to news of renewed geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran.
On that day, the U.S. military announced that it had struck approximately 90 military targets along Iran’s southern coast—including air defense networks, coastal surveillance equipment, missile and drone storage facilities, naval assets, and logistical support facilities—to weaken Iran’s ability to control and attack the Strait of Hormuz. In response, Iran has claimed to have launched retaliatory strikes targeting U.S. military bases in the Middle East, indicating that the military conflict between the two sides is escalating. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that Iran had contacted him expressing a desire to negotiate, leading to a series of mixed reports.
Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at DaishinSecurities, noted, “The domestic stock market opened higher on the back of rebound buying in the semiconductor sector, but it fluctuated without a clear direction due to ongoing noise from the Middle East and supply-demand volatility.”
In addition, a flood of sell orders emerged as investors sought to lock in profits. On the KOSPI market that day, retail investors alone recorded net sales of 1.3274 trillion won, while foreign and institutional investors posted net purchases of 134.9 billion won and 1.2873 trillion won, respectively. By trading type, combined net buying—including both arbitrage and non-arbitrage trades—totaled 1.2062 trillion won.
The analyst explained, “As negative factors surrounding the semiconductor sector and pressure to lock in profits accumulated, retail investors engaged in large-scale net selling. Consequently, the market gave up its intraday gains, and volatility widened once again.”
Top-market-cap stocks showed mixed performance. According to the Korea Exchange, SamsungElectronics(005930)rose 500 won (0.18%) from the previous trading day to 278,000 won, SK hynix(000660)rose 110,000 won (5.30%) to 2,186,000 won, HyundaiMotor(005380)fell 17,000 won (3.68%) to 445,500 won, and SAMSUNG C&T CORPORATION(028260)fell 16,500 won (4.18%) to 378,500 won, respectively.
Meanwhile, the KOSDAQ index opened at 792.99, up 7.99 points (1.02%) from the previous trading day, and is currently trading at 794.00, up 9.00 points (1.15%).
In the KOSDAQ market, retail investors were the only net sellers, offloading 321.2 billion won, while foreign and institutional investors were net buyers of 22.0 billion won and 307.8 billion won, respectively. By trading type, combined arbitrage and non-arbitrage trades showed a net buying position of 91.3 billion won.