Despite Yoon's Impeachment Approval... KOSPI Fails to Recover 2500 Mark

On the first trading day after the impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk-yeol was approved in the National Assembly, the KOSPI index ended slightly lower.

According to the Korea Exchange, on the 16th, the KOSPI index closed at 2488.97, down 5.49 points (0.22%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 2511.08, up 0.67%, and seemed to continue its upward trend but soon turned weak, fluctuating before settling slightly lower in the afternoon. This ended the four-day consecutive rise from the 10th, breaking the upward trend on the fifth trading day.

Foreign investors alone had a net selling of 476.7 billion KRW. Individuals and institutions had net purchases of 368 billion KRW and 2.9 billion KRW, respectively.

Park Kwang-nam, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, noted, "The approval of the impeachment motion was somewhat expected, and the recent rise reflects the process of political uncertainty being resolved to some extent," adding, "However, as it is a long-term issue, it is difficult to say that uncertainty has been completely resolved, which is why it remained in the flat range."

In the securities market, SK Hynix rose by over 2%. Samsung Biologics, Celltrion, and NAVER rose by over 1%. On the other hand, leading stock Samsung Electronics fell by 0.89%. Hyundai Motor and Kia fell by over 1% and 2%, respectively.

The KOSDAQ index ended at 698.53, up 4.8 points (0.69%) from the previous trading day.

Only individuals had a net purchase of 209 billion KRW. Foreigners and institutions had net sales of 114.9 billion KRW and 77.1 billion KRW, respectively.

In the KOSDAQ market, Alteogen and EcoPro BM fell by over 2%. Rigakem Bio fell by over 3%. However, HLB, Classys, and Lino Corporation rose by over 2%. Shinsung Delta Tech rose by more than 13%.

The won-dollar exchange rate rose by 2 KRW, closing at 1435 KRW.

Shin Min-kyung, Hankyung.com reporter radio@hankyung.com