Seoul held its chip-led rebound all the way to the close on Tuesday, but local retail investors used the rally to take profits while foreigners and institutions did the buying.
MoneyTurkey Foreign Markets Desk | 10 November 2026
Key points
- The Kospi closed up 220.28 points, or 4.39%, at 5,239.13, after touching 5,300.92 intraday, Yonhap and Korea JoongAng Daily reported.
- Individuals sold a net 1.3 trillion won (about $970 million) of Kospi shares, while foreigners bought a net 365.9 billion won (about $273 million) and institutions 489 billion won (about $365 million), according to Korea JoongAng Daily.
- The Kosdaq closed up 4.48% at 667.61, per Chosun Biz and MoneyToday.
Who bought and who sold
The split is the story the headline number hides. Retail investors were the only net sellers on the main board as the index snapped three straight sessions of sharp losses, Korea JoongAng Daily reported. News2Day put individual net selling slightly higher, at 1.35 trillion won (about $1.01 billion), and Chosun Biz, counting the Korea Exchange and the NEXTRADE alternative venue together, put it at 1.83 trillion won (about $1.37 billion).
Chosun Biz also noted a 455.5 billion won (about $340 million) net buy by other corporations, which it said is believed to include a sizable portion of SK hynix share buybacks. Unlike Monday, when early gains faded on foreign selling, the market held its advance into the close.
What moved
The Kospi opened 4.55% higher at 5,247.22, and the Korea Exchange activated a buy-side sidecar at 9:06 a.m. Seoul time, pausing program buy orders for five minutes. MoneyToday counted it as the 28th buy sidecar of the year. The Kosdaq tripped its own sidecar four minutes later.
Samsung Electronics rose 4.74% and SK hynix 6.69%. Samsung SDI gained more than 9%, MoneyToday reported, while Samsung Electro-Mechanics added 4.63% and SK Square 5.26%. Biotech lagged, with Samsung Biologics down 2.78% and Celltrion down 3.33%. Turnover was 16.2 trillion won (about $12.1 billion), and winners outnumbered losers 714 to 174, according to Korea JoongAng Daily.
Analysts tied the move to Wall Street. “U.S. semiconductor shares rose for the second consecutive session,” Kim Seok-hwan of Mirae Asset Securities told Korea JoongAng Daily, after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped 6.85% on Monday. Lower oil prices on hopes for an end to the Middle East war also helped.
What to watch
- Whether foreign buying continues on Wednesday or Monday-style selling returns
- Whether retail investors keep selling into strength
- Overnight moves in U.S. chip stocks
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For information only. Not investment advice.
Sources
- Korea JoongAng Daily: Kospi jumps 4.4% as Samsung, SK hynix rally and oil prices fall
- Yonhap: KOSPI 5,239.13 up 220.28 points (close)
- Chosun Biz: KOSPI jumps 4% to 5,239 as chip stocks rally
- MoneyToday: Foreign, institutional investors pour 1.3 trillion won into stocks
- News2Day (Korean): closing market report
