[Edaily Reporter kyoungeun kim ] Han Ji-young, an analyst at KIWOOM Securities, stated on the 23rd regarding the domestic stock market, “Although intraday volatility is expected to continue, at this point, it is appropriate to prioritize a strategy of increasing equity exposure rather than reducing it.”

Researcher Han added, “Despite the pressure from rising oil prices and interest rates, as well as the aftereffects of Alphabet’s after-hours stock decline, the market is expected to remain volatile today due to a mix of upward and downward factors—including the after-hours strength in U.S. semiconductor stocks such as Micron following Alphabet’s upward revision of its capital expenditure (CAPEX) guidance.” He further predicted, “During the trading session, the market is likely to shift toward sector-specific divergence depending on the results of individual earnings events for HyundaiMotor(005380), NH INVESTMENT & SECURITIES(005940), and KB Financial Group(105560).”
The previous day, the KOSPI surged by over 6% early in the session, triggered by a buy-side circuit breaker activated amid a simultaneous surge in U.S. semiconductor stocks. However, it closed having given up most of its gains due to the impact of cautionary selling stemming from growing anticipation ahead of Alphabet’s earnings report and geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
An analyst noted, “The fact that the KOSPI gave back most of its gains after reaching the 6% range early in the session heightened market anxiety regarding the stock market’s resilience and the sustainability of the rebound,” but added, “However, it is a source of relief that the market has emerged from a phase where it faced the threat of deviating from its medium- to long-term trend—such as when it fell below the 120-day moving average at the close on the 20th.”
He also emphasized, “It is worth noting that, despite growing concerns over a slowdown in earnings, there has been no actual deterioration in earnings estimates across the KOSPI since July.” Since July, the 12-month forward operating profit growth rate for the KOSPI has increased by 6.8%.
Positive signals are also emerging from the supply-and-demand side. One analyst reported, “Foreign investors, who switched to net buying last week, recorded net purchases of 2.6 trillion won on the KOSPI yesterday—including 1.7 trillion won in semiconductors—marking their largest daily net buying since May 6 (3.1 trillion won).”
He assessed, “Considering that the market is accumulating factors indicating a neutral or better outlook in terms of charts, earnings, and foreign investor sentiment, the current KOSPI level—which has fallen below 7,000 points—can be interpreted as having entered the bottom range.”
He went on to forecast, “If potential positive catalysts emerge—such as earnings reports from leading domestic and international stocks in sectors like AI and semiconductors scheduled through next week, renewed expectations for a U.S.-Iran ceasefire, and a stabilization in the upward trend of oil prices—the market’s positive reaction could be stronger than during the sharp sell-off in early to mid-July.”
However, concerns about volatility remain. One analyst noted, “As evidenced by the routine activation of the ‘side car’ mechanism, the market continues to experience high volatility, with the KOSPI Volatility Index (VKOSPI) still fluctuating in the 80-point range,” but added, “It is reassuring that the assets under management (AUM) of single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs)—which had artificially amplified recent volatility—are declining.”
He explained, “While there has been a strong pattern in which the liquidation of single-stock leveraged ETFs further accelerated market declines, it is important to note that the weight of single-stock inverse ETFs has been increasing recently,” adding, “Should the stock market rebound in the future, the liquidation (or stop-loss selling) of single-stock inverse ETFs—just as the liquidation of single-stock leveraged ETFs did in the past—could potentially accelerate the momentum of the market’s rebound.”