Kospi tumbles to 6,400s after abrupt afternoon selloff

The Kospi reversed course Thursday, abruptly turning lower during the session to slide into the 6,400s after opening with gains. Other corporations continued buying on their own, but their purchases were not enough to offset selling pressure from retail investors, foreigners and institutions.

According to Korea Exchange, the Kospi stood at 6,490.63 as of 2:30 p.m. Thursday, down 72.09 points, or 1.10 percent, from the previous session.

The index had opened up 87.61 points, or 1.33 percent, at 6,650.33, briefly trimmed its gains, then extended its advance to as high as 6,682.97, a rise of 1.83 percent, at one point during the session.

Around 2 p.m., however, the index suddenly tumbled, shedding nearly 4 percentage points within roughly 10 minutes to touch 6,439.49, a drop of 1.88 percent.

On the main board, retail investors were net sellers of 544.7 billion won ($398 million), while foreigners and institutions were net sellers of 512.8 billion won and 412.2 billion won, respectively. Other corporations — a category that includes buybacks by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix — stood alone as net buyers at 1.47 trillion won.

The reversal was attributed largely to large-cap semiconductor stocks, which had gained throughout the morning before turning lower.

Samsung Electronics was trading down 3,000 won, or 1.2 percent, at 247,500 won, while SK hynix fell 26,000 won, or 1.6 percent, to 1.59 million won.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics dropped 63,000 won, or 4.5 percent, to 1.34 million won, and Samsung Biologics declined 45,000 won, or 3.0 percent, to 1.46 million won.

LG Energy Solution, KB Financial Group, Samsung Life and Hyundai Motor bucked the trend, rising 4.6 percent, 4.3 percent, 2.3 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

The Kosdaq also fell, losing 17.46 points, or 2.17 percent, to 786.52 at the same time. The index had opened up 10.33 points, or 1.28 percent, at 814.31 before reversing lower.