verdict at the close
KOSPI closes at 6,967.62, up +2.26% — foreign net buying leads; KOSDAQ edges up +0.41%
The KOSPI closed Friday, August 14 (2026) at 6,967.62, up 2.26% on the day, after ranging from a session low of 6,848.43 at 10:34 to a high of 7,010.86 at 09:02 — a intraday swing of 162.43 points (2.37%).The KOSDAQ settled at 864.91, up 0.41%, with a wider intraday range of 33.88 points (4.01%) between its 10:15 low of 845.41 and 09:07 high of 879.29; investor flow data remain provisional ahead of this evening’s KRX confirmation.
The day’s path
A window marking the hours when direction turned during the session
KOSPI peaked at 7,010.86 in the first two minutes, slid to 6,848.43 by 10:34, then recovered steadily to close at 6,967.62 — a 162.43-point intraday range.
Top by trading value10— snapshot
A window on how the top trading-value names have moved up to this hour
Semiconductors dominated KOSPI turnover with SK hynix and Samsung Electronics alone accounting for over ₩13,000bn, while SK Telecom printed its session high at 14:52.
| Stock | Prior close | Open | Gap | High (time) | Close | Change | Low (time) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SK hynix | 1,593,000 | 1,695,000 | +6.40% | 1,697,000 (09:12) | 1,645,000 | +3.26% | 1,626,000 (10:35) |
| Samsung Electronics | 268,000 | 275,000 | +2.61% | 275,500 (09:00) | 274,500 | +2.43% | 266,000 (10:13) |
| Samsung Electro-Mechanics | 1,503,000 | 1,593,000 | +5.99% | 1,600,000 (09:00) | 1,558,000 | +3.66% | 1,511,000 (10:06) |
| SK Square | 1,117,000 | 1,182,000 | +5.82% | 1,183,000 (09:00) | 1,154,000 | +3.31% | 1,130,000 (09:16) |
| Samsung Electronics (Pref.) | 187,800 | 191,600 | +2.02% | 196,200 (15:12) | 195,600 | +4.15% | 188,100 (10:15) |
| Hyundai Motor | 418,500 | 424,000 | +1.31% | 456,000 (13:24) | 453,000 | +8.24% | 421,500 (09:00) |
| LG Electronics | 206,500 | 212,000 | +2.66% | 225,000 (09:03) | 215,000 | +4.12% | 206,500 (10:34) |
| SK Telecom | 91,100 | 92,400 | +1.43% | 100,800 (14:52) | 100,500 | +10.32% | 92,000 (09:00) |
| Samsung SDI | 487,022 | 491,500 | +0.92% | 518,000 (15:07) | 516,000 | +5.95% | 485,500 (09:00) |
| SK eternix | 57,100 | 57,800 | +1.23% | 58,800 (09:45) | 58,300 | +2.10% | 55,900 (09:06) |
Among KOSPI’s ten most active names, SK hynix touched its intraday high of ₩1,697,000 at 09:12 before retreating to a low of ₩1,626,000 at 10:35, closing at ₩1,645,000; Samsung Electronics similarly peaked at ₩275,500 within the first minute and found its trough of ₩266,000 at 10:13.SK Telecom was a notable exception to the early-weakness, early-strength pattern: it opened at ₩92,700, held near that level through mid-session, and did not reach its intraday high of ₩100,800 until 14:52, closing at ₩100,500 on ₩306.4bn in turnover.
Flow summary
A window on how much foreign investors, retail investors, investment firms and pension funds each bought and sold
Foreign investors net bought ₩3.04tn on KOSPI today, driving the index to a +2.26% close at 6,967.62 while retail investors sold a matching ₩1.98tn.
The stocks that moved the market — top by turnover10
A window on which investor groups backed the most heavily traded stocks
SK hynix and Samsung Electronics topped KOSPI turnover at ₩7.19tn and ₩5.87tn respectively, both closing higher on the day.
SK hynix (₩7,191.5bn turnover, +3.26%) and Samsung Electronics (₩5,874.4bn, +2.43%) together accounted for the bulk of KOSPI turnover; Samsung Electro-Mechanics at ₩1,504.3bn (+3.66%) ranked third, consistent with a semiconductor-heavy session even as the broader semiconductor sector closed only +0.18% due to index-weighting effects from names that lagged.On KOSDAQ, Jeju Semiconductor led turnover at ₩346.5bn despite falling −7.70%, suggesting elevated two-way activity; Kolon TissueGene (₩274.7bn, +11.52%) and Halla Cast (₩234.5bn, +16.25%) were among the active gainers in that market.
| Stock | Close | Change | Turnover | Foreign investors | Institutions | Investment firms | Pension funds | Retail investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SK hynix | ₩1,645,000 | +3.26% | ₩7.19tn | +₩1.25tn | −₩551.7bn | −₩557.2bn | −₩47.4bn | −₩658.5bn |
| Samsung Electronics | ₩274,500 | +2.43% | ₩5.87tn | +₩1.34tn | −₩497.7bn | −₩349.0bn | +₩6.6bn | −₩829.3bn |
| Samsung Electro-Mechanics | ₩1,558,000 | +3.66% | ₩1.50tn | −₩278.7bn | +₩37.1bn | −₩45.9bn | +₩58.1bn | +₩236.3bn |
| SK Square | ₩1,154,000 | +3.31% | ₩759.2bn | −₩28.4bn | +₩46.4bn | +₩9.1bn | +₩19.2bn | −₩16.7bn |
| Samsung Electronics (Pref.) | ₩195,600 | +4.15% | ₩741.6bn | +₩256.2bn | +₩10.6bn | −₩9.7bn | −₩14.0bn | −₩262.1bn |
| Hyundai Motor | ₩453,000 | +8.24% | ₩537.9bn | +₩42.1bn | +₩26.8bn | +₩6.5bn | +₩17.9bn | −₩73.3bn |
| LG Electronics | ₩215,000 | +4.12% | ₩342.7bn | +₩39.1bn | +₩0.8bn | −₩12.7bn | +₩18.9bn | −₩39.0bn |
| SK Telecom | ₩100,500 | +10.32% | ₩306.4bn | −₩12.7bn | +₩39.1bn | +₩16.2bn | +₩8.8bn | −₩26.8bn |
| Samsung SDI | ₩516,000 | +5.95% | ₩232.6bn | +₩5.1bn | +₩37.8bn | +₩12.4bn | +₩20.1bn | −₩43.8bn |
| SK eternix | ₩58,300 | +2.10% | ₩218.7bn | +₩1.8bn | +₩4.8bn | +₩1.7bn | −₩0.4bn | −₩7.7bn |
Gainers5· Decliners5 — KOSPI & KOSDAQ
A window on the biggest gainers and decliners, and the reasons behind them
Autos and consumer-telecom led KOSPI sector gains, with Hyundai Motor up +8.24% and SK Telecom up +10.32%, while defense names retreated.
On KOSPI, the session’s sharpest gainers among names with more than ₩100bn turnover included DIC (+25.33%), Binggrae (+19.94%), DN Automotive (+19.11%), and SK Chemicals (+14.03%); decliners were fewer and shallower, with Kumho Construction (−6.75%) and Hansol Chemical (−6.02%) at the foot of the active-stock list.On KOSDAQ, the breadth data for today’s session had not yet been collected at publication time; Thursday’s KOSDAQ Advance-Decline RatioThe ratio of advancing stocks to declining stocks in a market on a given day; a reading above 1.0 means more stocks rose than fell.ADR signals whether a headline index move is driven by broad participation or concentrated in a handful of large-caps. was 0.63 (633 advancers vs. 1,009 decliners), so any comparison to today’s distribution will be available in the final edition once KRX confirms the count.
After-Hours Outlook
A window on what to watch in after-hours trade once the regular session ends
KOSPI closes up +2.26% with foreign net buying running against the Friday base rate — after-hours price discovery begins.
With the KOSPI closing at 6,967.62 (+2.26%) and KOSPI futures showing foreign net buying of 173 contracts on the day (provisional), after-hours single-stock price discovery will reflect today’s broad gains; the most recent confirmed NXT (Nextrade Alternative Exchange)Korea’s alternative trading system, Nextrade, which runs pre-market, main, and after-market sessions alongside KRX.NXT’s share of total turnover (around 13–15% in recent sessions) provides a real-time read on order flow before and after regular KRX hours. after-market session data available is from August 13, when after-hours turnover reached ₩4,084.9bn across 604 names.In the 2026 regime, on the 31 Fridays in the sample, foreigners were net sellers on average (–₩12,895bn mean, net-buying in only 26% of sessions); today’s provisional foreign net buy of ₩3,037.5bn on KOSPI runs against that base rate, and any reversion in positioning will be visible when U.S. futures open.