Kospi closed slightly flat due to geopolitical risks surrounding Ukraine and weakness in Nvidia's stock price despite its strong performance.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 21st, KOSPI closed at 2,480.63, down 0.07% from the previous day. By investor, institutions alone net bought 296.9 billion won. Foreigners and individuals net sold 259.5 billion won and 125.4 billion won, respectively. KOSDAQ closed at 680.67, down 2.24% from the previous day. In the KOSDAQ market, individuals and institutions bought 64.4 billion won and 2.9 billion won, respectively. Foreigners alone threw in 77.4 billion won. Lee Jae-won, a researcher at Shinhan Investment & Securities, explained, “Individuals, foreigners, and institutions all had minimal inflows,” and “They showed a cyclical buying trend by selling industries that had risen and buying industries that had fallen significantly.”
On this day, the domestic stock market was dampened by the tensions over the war between Ukraine and Russia. This was due to the increased fear of an all-out war following the news that Ukraine had fired a British-made long-range missile at the Russian mainland the previous night. The news that Russia would launch a large-scale airstrike on Kiev also stimulated risk-averse sentiment.
Nvidia's weak stock price also led to the decline in the domestic stock market. On the 20th (local time), Nvidia recorded sales of $35.082 billion (about 49.12 trillion won) and operating profit of $21.869 billion (about 30.62 trillion won) in the third quarter of this year. These figures are 94% and 110% higher than the third quarter of last year, respectively. However, the stock price fell 0.76% due to the assessment that it was not enough to meet the market's expectations.
As Nvidia's stock price fell last night despite its good performance, the stock price of SK Hynix, a leading domestic semiconductor company, also fell. SK Hynix closed at 168,800 won, down 1.06% from the previous day, on the KOSPI market. However, Samsung Electronics, the No. 1 company in terms of market capitalization, rose 1.99% from the previous day to 56,400 won, partially defending the KOSPI's decline. On this day, the won-dollar exchange rate threatened the 'psychological Maginot Line' of 1,400 won, but recorded 1,397.5 won, down 3.4 won from the previous day.
