Following its record close at 4,457.52 on January 5 amid a tech rally, South Korea's KOSPI dipped on January 6 due to profit-taking by foreign investors, though retail buying narrowed losses to 0.37% (4,440.94) by late morning—despite overnight Wall Street gains.
Building on the morning surge reported earlier, the KOSPI closed January 5 up 3.43% at a record 4,457.52, topping the prior high of 4,309.63. The rally was fueled by AI optimism in semiconductors: Samsung Electronics surged 7.47%—its largest gain in six years—to 138,100 won; SK hynix rose 2.81% to 696,000 won. Other gainers included Hyundai Motor (+2.01% to 304,500 won), Kia (+1.66%), POSCO Holdings (+1.68%), and HD Hyundai (+3.69%). Foreigners net bought 2.17 trillion won ($1.5 billion), offsetting institutional and retail sales; volume hit 22.5 trillion won with 509.64 million shares traded (losers edged gainers 447-436).
On January 6, the index opened lower at 4,417.56 (down 0.9% early), bucking U.S. gains (Dow +1.23%, Nasdaq +0.69%). Foreigners flipped to net selling (870.22 billion won) after recent purchases exceeding 2.8 trillion won. By 11:20 a.m., losses eased to 16.58 points (-0.37%) at 4,440.94, aided by retail (net buy 2.25 billion won) and institutional buying (828.35 billion won).
Tech stocks led declines: Samsung Electronics -2.32% (from -2.97% early), SK hynix -2.16% (from -2.87%). Korean Air -0.66%, POSCO Holdings -0.17%; gainers: Hyundai Motor +0.33% (after +7.22% intraday spike), Korea Aerospace Industries +10.53%.
"In particular, today's tech rally in Seoul is in line with sharp gains in Micron Technology in the U.S. bourse on Friday," said No Dong-kil, an analyst at Shinhan Securities. The won was at 1,447.20 per dollar (down 3.4 won).
