12:00verdict at this hour
Chips lift KOSPI while KOSDAQ slides — two markets, two stories on a volatile Friday morning
The KOSPI closed up 0.42% at 6,881.59 on Friday, August 21 (2026), as SK hynix and Samsung Electronics powered a semiconductor-led advance even as most other sectors retreated; the KOSDAQ, by contrast, shed 5.29% to close at 796.37, the index’s intraday path tracing a steady drift lower from the opening bell through the late morning.The divergence was sharp: the KOSPI’s intraday range spanned 173.67 points (2.58% high-to-low), with a session low of 6,742.44 and a session high of 6,916.11, while the KOSDAQ’s 28.45-point range (3.58%) was set almost entirely in decline, with the high of 824.05 printed at the open and the low of 795.60 touched near 11:05.
12:00Snapshot
A window that records the market at that hour, like a photograph
Foreigners buy ₩374.7bn net on KOSPI; retail investors and institutions both sell as chip gains mask broad-market weakness
Top by trading value10— snapshot
A window on how the top trading-value names have moved up to this hour
SK hynix and Samsung Electronics dominate KOSPI turnover as chips absorb the day’s buying interest
Through approximately 11:52 KST, SK hynix printed ₩4,261.4bn in KOSPI turnover — the session’s heaviest — with the stock reaching an intraday high of ₩1,773,000 at 09:52 before easing; Samsung Electronics followed at ₩3,748.2bn, touching ₩281,500 at 10:50 before consolidating.Samsung Electronics preferred shares ranked third on KOSPI by turnover at ₩1,170.5bn, posting the session’s widest percentage move among the turnover leaders (+8.26%), while Samsung Electro-Mechanics generated ₩504.3bn despite falling 5.73% — heavy two-way flow in the semiconductor-component group was a feature of the morning.
| Stock | Prior close | Open | Gap | High (time) | 12:00 Current Price | Change | Low (time) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Electronics | 271,000 | 267,000 | −1.48% | 281,500 (10:50) | 280,500 (12:00) | +3.51% | 266,000 (09:03) |
| SK hynix | 1,691,000 | 1,675,000 | −0.95% | 1,773,000 (09:52) | 1,767,000 (12:00) | +4.49% | 1,671,000 (09:01) |
| Samsung Electronics (Pref.) | 191,200 | 190,100 | −0.58% | 208,500 (10:50) | 207,000 (12:00) | +8.26% | 190,200 (09:01) |
| Samsung Electro-Mechanics | 1,396,000 | 1,345,000 | −3.65% | 1,348,000 (09:11) | 1,328,000 (12:00) | −4.87% | 1,306,000 (10:10) |
| SK Square | 1,123,000 | 1,096,000 | −2.40% | 1,141,000 (09:48) | 1,128,000 (12:00) | +0.45% | 1,079,000 (09:01) |
| Kumho E&C | 15,650 | 15,650 | +0.00% | 18,200 (09:25) | 15,890 (12:00) | +1.53% | 14,810 (09:02) |
| Kakao | 38,700 | 38,150 | −1.42% | 38,650 (09:04) | 34,250 (12:00) | −11.50% | 33,600 (10:52) |
| Samsung Life Insurance | 296,989 | 291,500 | −1.85% | 320,000 (11:22) | 317,500 (12:00) | — | 287,000 (09:01) |
| SK Securities | 2,810 | 2,920 | +3.91% | 3,555 (09:05) | 3,015 (12:00) | +7.30% | 2,965 (11:02) |
| Kumho Electric | 7,460 | 8,000 | +7.24% | 9,690 (09:24) | 8,840 (12:00) | +18.50% | 7,810 (09:02) |
Kakao’s intraday path stood out for the opposite reason: the stock opened at ₩38,600 and reached its session high of ₩38,750 at 09:00, then declined steadily to a low of ₩33,600 at 10:52, generating ₩165.9bn in turnover on sustained selling pressure throughout the morning.Kumho Construction was the turnover outlier in a different sense: ₩408.2bn changed hands in a stock that swung from ₩14,810 (low, 09:02) to ₩18,200 (high, 09:25) before retreating — the 22.9% intraday spread reflects the short-selling surge flagged in the prior session’s data (surge ×5.1 recorded on August 13).
Gainers5· Decliners5— snapshot
A window on the biggest gainers and decliners, and the reasons behind them
KOSPI closes up +0.42% as chip giants surge; KOSDAQ drops 5.29% on broad-based selling across biotech and defense names.
On the KOSPI, gainers were concentrated in semiconductors and financials: Samsung Electronics preferred shares surged 8.26% with ₩1,171.2bn in turnover, SK hynix rose 3.96%, and the financial complex (Hana Financial Group +3.81%, Shinhan Financial +2.67%, KB Financial +1.59%) added to breadth.Decliners were broader and deeper: Kakao fell 11.24%, LIG Defence & Aerospace dropped 11.05%, OCI Holdings shed 8.79%, Hanwha Solutions fell 8.66%, and GS Engineering & Construction lost 8.85% — defense, construction, and clean-energy names bore the brunt of selling.On the KOSDAQ, the picture was almost uniformly red: Algeonomics fell 17.23%, Kido Industries dropped 15.49%, Ingenium Therapeutics (Reg.S) lost 11.95%, and Simtec slid 11.14%; Alteogen gave back 8.25% with ₩79.3bn in turnover — the biotech and semiconductor-equipment groups that had outperformed in recent sessions were among the day’s sharpest losers.