[Edaily Reporter Shin Ha-yeon ] The KOSPI extended its losses, breaking below the 7,000 mark. Amid renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, foreign and institutional investors are net sellers, dragging the index lower.

According to MP Doctor on the 13th, as of 12:54 p.m. today, the KOSPI is trading at 6,944.39, down 531.55 points (7.11%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 7,412.03, down 0.85% from the previous day, and although it managed to turn positive early in the session, it soon turned bearish and has been extending its losses. It also fell as low as 6,932.23 during the session.

This marks the first time in about two months—since May 4—that the KOSPI has fallen below the 7,000 level during trading hours. On that occasion, the KOSPI dropped to 6,741.63 during the session before closing at 6,936.99. This is the first time since then that the index has dipped below the 7,000 level during trading hours.

At 10:34 a.m. that day, the 18th “sell-side sidecar” (suspension of program trading sell orders) of the year was triggered. A sell-side sidecar is triggered when the price of the futures contract with the highest trading volume on the previous trading day (the nearest-month contract) among KOSPI 200-based futures falls by 5% or more and remains at that level for one minute.

By investor type, foreign and institutional investors are exerting downward pressure on the index with net sales of 1.8565 trillion won and 576.5 billion won, respectively. Retail investors are the only group showing net purchases, totaling 2.3591 trillion won, but this is insufficient to stem the index’s decline. Program trading, combining arbitrage and non-arbitrage trades, shows a net selling position of 1.5253 trillion won.

By sector, the electrical and electronics sector is down by around 9%. Most sectors—including manufacturing, construction, machinery and equipment, medical and precision instruments, finance, insurance, retail, electricity and gas, telecommunications, securities, general services, IT services, and transportation equipment and parts—are trading lower. In contrast, chemicals, textiles and apparel, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, and real estate are showing slight gains.

Among the top-market-cap stocks on the KOSPI, SamsungElectronics(005930)is trading at 261,250 won, down 23,750 won (8.33%) from the previous trading day. SK hynix(000660)is trading at 1,905,000 won, down 275,000 won (12.61%) from the previous close.

Following these, SKSQUARE(402340)(-15.76%), SamsungElectroMechanics(009150)(-17.55%), HyundaiMotor(005380)(-2.19%), Samsung Life Insurance(032830)(-6.61%), SAMSUNG C&T CORPORATION(028260)(-7.28%), and KIA CORPORATION(000270)(-2.03%) are all trading lower.

At the same time, the KOSDAQ Index is also showing a decline, recording 807.15—down 30.28 points (3.62%) from the previous trading day. While retail investors and institutional investors are net buyers of 184.7 billion won and 179.1 billion won, respectively, institutional investors alone are net sellers of 361.1 billion won.