KOSPI Slides After 8,000 Break as Retail Buying Meets Foreign Selling

On May 15, the KOSPI opened at 7,951.75 and crossed 8,000 for the first time at 9:13 a.m., but selling pressure intensified in the afternoon and the index closed at 7,493.18, down 6.12%. A sell-sidecar halted trading for five minutes at 1:28 p.m., and the index briefly fell to the 7,300 range. Among the top 100 KOSPI stocks by market value, 91 ended lower. Samsung Electronics fell 8.61%, while SK hynix dropped 7.66%. Foreign investors and institutions net sold 5.6 trillion won and 1.73 trillion won, respectively, while retail investors bought more than 7 trillion won. Hankyung.com said experts viewed the foreign selling as a temporary portfolio adjustment after a sharp semiconductor rally, not a peak-out signal.