KOSPI Falls More Than 3% as U.S. Midterm Results Come In… Foreign Investors Sell More Than 2 Trillion Won
The KOSPI opened higher, tracking gains on Wall Street, but extended its losses as results from the U.S. midterm elections showed Democrats gaining ground. It fell as low as the 5,400 level intraday before dropping 3.7% to around 5,438 points later in the session. The KOSDAQ also fell below 700, losing around 2.5% to 685–686 points.
Foreign investors initially sold about 1.7 trillion won net on the Korea Exchange in morning trading, then increased their net selling to more than 2 trillion won. Individual investors initially bought more than 1.2 trillion won net and later around 1.6 trillion won. The won-dollar exchange rate fell to 1,338 won, down about 6.60 won from the previous day. Nvidia’s planned $1 billion investment in Naver, scheduled to flow in by November 6, was also cited as a factor affecting the exchange rate.
Japan’s Nikkei average fell more than 3.5%, while Taiwan’s weighted index lost more than 2%. The Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng indexes also declined, although Chinese stocks fell relatively less, supported by government stimulus measures. With vote counting still underway, Democrats were leading in the House, while the results in closely contested Senate races were expected to become clearer in the afternoon.