KOSPI -3.25%, Foreign Investors Dump ₩7.3T for 9th Straight Session; Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) -8.9%
Original: 코스피, 외인 7.3조 투매에 7200선 후퇴…코스닥도 2%대 급락 View original →
Korean equities suffered their sharpest single-session loss in weeks on May 19, with the KOSPI falling 244.38 points (-3.25%) to close at 7,271.66. The KOSDAQ declined 26.73 points (-2.41%) to 1,084.36. At the session low the KOSPI had shed nearly 5% intraday before a partial recovery into the close.
Record-Pace Foreign Outflows
Foreign investors sold a net ₩7.34 trillion (approximately $4.9 billion) on the Korea Exchange on May 19 alone — their ninth consecutive session of net selling. Cumulative outflows since May 7 now stand at ₩48 trillion, a pace that has pushed the KOSPI down 9.6% from its May 15 peak of 8,046.78.
Catalyst: US Semiconductor Sell-Off
The immediate trigger was an overnight rout in US chip names. Micron Technology ($MU) fell 5.95% and SanDisk ($SNDK) dropped 5.3% in New York, rekindling debate over whether memory semiconductor demand has peaked. That concern translated directly into Korean chip stocks at the open.
Large-Cap Movers
- Hyundai Motor (005380.KS): -8.9% — largest decline among large-cap names
- SK Square (402340.KS): -6.68%
- Doosan Enerbility (034020.KS): -5.44%
- SK Hynix (000660.KS): -5.16%, closing at ₩1,745,000
- Samsung SDI (006400.KS): -4.27%
- Samsung Electronics (005930.KS): -1.96%
Defense names were the exception: Hanwha Aerospace gained 4.81% and LIG Nex1 rose 2.74% on elevated Middle East tensions following a U.S. announcement of a temporary pause in Iran strike plans.
KRW/USD Hits 1.5-Month High
The won weakened to ₩1,507.8 per dollar at the close, up 7.5 won on the day and the highest since April 2. Intraday the pair briefly touched ₩1,509.4. Relentless foreign equity outflow is generating sustained dollar demand, keeping the won on the back foot even as the DXY Dollar Index edged lower to 99.097.
What to Watch
Nvidia ($NVDA) reports Q1 results on May 20 after the bell. A strong data-center guidance print would be the clearest catalyst to arrest the global semiconductor de-rating and could trigger a recovery in Korean chip stocks. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield has moved above 4.6%, and any hawkish Fed commentary would compound pressure on rate-sensitive Korean equities.
Not investment advice. Verify all figures with primary sources before acting.
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South Korea's KOSPI closed at a record 7,844.01 (+2.63%) on May 13, led by Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) surging 9.91% to KRW 710,000 on robotics revaluation, with Hyundai Mobis up 18.43%. SK Hynix (000660.KS) gained 7.68% to KRW 1,976,000 as AI server investment expectations revived following Jensen Huang's reported China trip. Domestic investors net-bought KRW 3.57 trillion, absorbing KRW 4 trillion in foreign selling.
South Korea's KOSPI closed at a record 7,981.41 on May 14, its second consecutive all-time high, bringing the 8,000-point threshold within 0.24%. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix led the rally as Nvidia's H200 China export authorization spotlighted Korean HBM suppliers as direct beneficiaries; the National Pension Service added roughly ₩50 trillion (~$36 billion) in two weeks.
South Korea's Prime Minister Kim Min-seok issued a public ultimatum May 17, warning that May 18 talks at the Central Labor Relations Committee are 'the last chance' to avert a general strike by 50,000 Samsung Electronics workers scheduled for May 21. Samsung shares slid roughly 8% on strike risk, with the dispute centered on a stark bonus gap: 607% of annual salary for the memory unit versus 50–100% for foundry and System LSI workers.
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