The KOSPI rose more than 2% early on the 14th but fell back under foreign selling, closing lower for a sixth straight session. The index briefly broke below the 6,000 level before narrowly recovering. Analysts said bargain hunting emerged as U.S. Treasury yields stabilized, but uncertainty over the semiconductor cycle, rising oil prices and caution ahead of U.S. inflation data cut short the advance.
The KOSPI closed at 6,008.81, down 26.54 points, or 0.44%, from the previous session, according to the Korea Exchange. The index opened at 6,062.08, up 26.73 points or 0.44%, and climbed as high as 6,190.65 during the session. It then turned lower in the afternoon, sliding to 5,944.65 before trimming losses near the close. The KOSPI has fallen for six consecutive sessions since the 6th, down 14.21% from its close of 7,003.74 on the 2nd.
Foreign selling dragged the index down. Foreign investors sold a net 1.1831 trillion won on the main board. While that was smaller than the previous day's net selling of 4.5259 trillion won, more than 1 trillion won of shares still hit the market. Retail investors also sold a net 309.2 billion won, while institutions bought a net 805.2 billion won, cushioning the decline.
Large-cap chip stocks also gave up their early gains. Samsung Electronics rose more than 3% at one point but finished flat at 232,000 won. SK hynix ended down 1.66% at 1.419 million won. SK Square fell 0.58%, Samsung Biologics dropped 1.99% and KB Financial Group lost 1.97%. LG Energy Solution gained 2.93% and Samsung Electro-Mechanics added 0.81%.
One factor that dampened sentiment was earnings from ASML, the Dutch semiconductor equipment maker. ASML posted third-quarter revenue of 11.66 billion euros, slightly below market expectations of 11.71 billion euros. Its fourth-quarter revenue guidance beat expectations, but the stock fell 3% to 4% after the release as investors judged that the improvement in its growth outlook was not large enough to justify an already elevated share price.
Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities, said the issue was less a slowdown in demand for artificial intelligence chip equipment than the fact that earnings and the growth outlook did not improve enough relative to a share price that had already run up.
Rising oil prices also weighed on the market. Military clashes between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Houthi rebels pushed West Texas Intermediate crude futures to around $95 a barrel, fueling concerns about inflation and further monetary tightening in the United States. Caution spread in particular ahead of the release of the U.S. consumer price index for September, weakening the market's momentum for a rebound.
The KOSDAQ also declined. The index closed at 823.88, down 13.15 points, or 1.57%, from the previous session. Retail investors bought a net 385.3 billion won, while foreign investors and institutions sold a net 217.2 billion won and 181.1 billion won, respectively. EcoPro rose 3.29% and EcoPro BM gained 2.92%, while Jusung Engineering tumbled 8.21% and Wonik IPS fell 6.83%.
Brokerages said the U.S. CPI report, due at 9:30 p.m. Korean time, and TSMC's earnings release on the 15th will be a near-term turning point for any rebound in chip stocks. Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said investors should watch for the possibility that TSMC's results reverse the weakened momentum in AI-related shares.
