MONEY RADAR
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MARKET BRIEFING · KOREA

The names that posted record earnings were sold, while the names that supplied their equipment rose

October 8, 2026 · Read the Korean original

Major indices

  • KOSPI 6,625.93 -2.62%
  • KOSDAQ 892.27 -0.69%

Judging by the indexes alone, Samsung Electronics' record quarterly operating profit of 107 trillion won counted for nothing. The KOSPI fell 177.97 points, or 2.62%, to 6,625.93 for a third straight decline, while the KOSDAQ slipped 6.16 points, or 0.69%, to 892.27, a drop only a quarter the size. Of the 20 value-chain industries tracked here, only three closed with a positive average move: semiconductors, steel and EV batteries. Market-wide advance and decline counts run a day behind, so 7 October is the latest reading, and even then the KOSPI had 369 advancers against 496 decliners and the KOSDAQ 651 against 1,005.

The split ran not between industries but inside semiconductors. The large caps that reported record earnings were pressured by profit-taking, while buying concentrated on the materials, parts and equipment names that supply their tools and back-end testing, leaving the industry average positive; EV batteries and materials names such as aluminium foil makers rode the same current. Shipbuilding, defence, power grid and nuclear power, by contrast, had no advancers at all, and most biotech names fell as well. Doosan Tesna rose 14.85% on expectations of expanded outsourced testing, while Hanmi Pharmaceutical fell 10.02% as the approval of a domestically developed obesity drug turned from catalyst into fact. The industry moves and individual names are set out in the industry watch table below.

The macro readings on their own do not account for a drop of this size. The won strengthened to 1,339.2 per dollar, down 4.2 won and extending its run, while the three-year government bond yield rose 2.2 basis points to 3.983% and the ten-year rose 1.9 basis points to 4.395%, both modest moves. Gold climbed to 4,128.33 dollars but silver fell 0.76%, so even safe havens pointed in different directions. The clearer pressure came from flows. Non-arbitrage programme trading on the KOSPI showed a net sale of 928.3 billion won, and over the past five sessions 4.73 trillion won has left through that channel. Investor deposits and margin loan balances were missing from this collection, so no judgement is made on retail cash.

Yonhap News and Fnnews attributed the decline not to earnings but to a stack of flow-related events landing on the same day: weight adjustments in large semiconductor exchange-traded funds, options expiry, and the end of Samsung Electronics' share buyback. According to the JoongAng Ilbo, foreign investors sold a net 2.02 trillion won and institutions 1.30 trillion won, while retail investors absorbed 2.55 trillion won. Even so, the money did not leave the market wholesale. On relative strength the semiconductor industry was the strongest with seven leading names, with OSAT and packaging the strongest process within it, and the HANARO Semiconductor Core Process Leaders ETF gained 4.77% for the day's best fund return.

To separate what is settled from what is not: the index closes and percentage moves were confirmed at the same values across closing reports from several different outlets, and the industry and stock moves, the programme trading figures and the currency, rate and metals prices are collected by this site directly. The advance and decline counts are as of 7 October, however, and crude oil and US Treasury yields as of 6 October, so those are not today's numbers. How much of the drop came from ETF rebalancing versus the end of the buyback is a brokerage estimate and cannot be stated firmly, and the reason Sama Aluminium surged without any notable disclosure also appears to remain unclear.

Watchlist stocks by industry

Semiconductors +1.94% · 30 of 42 up

Steel & metals +0.98% · 5 of 14 up

EV batteries +0.80% · 7 of 13 up

Bio & healthcare -3.41% · 3 of 34 up

Shipbuilding -3.78% · 0 of 15 up

Defense -4.29% · 0 of 13 up

Sources (Korean-language)

This market briefing was compiled by AI from this site's own price and filing data together with public news reports, and translated from the Korean original. Please check the sources below before relying on it.

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