Semiconductor Bargain Hunting Fails to Halt Three-Day Slide; KOSDAQ Breaks Below 640
Vaxcell-Bio and Hanjin Kal Preferred Shares Hit Daily Limit; Seegene Plummets 20%, Alteogen Drops 15%
On the 9th, the domestic stock market closed lower as foreign selling pressure overwhelmed bargain hunting efforts centered on large-cap semiconductor stocks. The KOSPI attempted an intraday rebound but surrendered its gains, falling below the 5020 level. The KOSDAQ also gave up the 640 mark due to weakness in the pharmaceutical and financial sectors. Both major indices have now declined for three consecutive trading sessions.
According to the Korea Exchange, the KOSPI closed at 5018.85, down 40.84 points (0.81%). The KOSDAQ finished at 638.97, down 5.30 points (0.82%). The won-dollar exchange rate closed at 1347.1 won, down 9.5 won from the previous session.
While bargain hunting following recent sharp declines provided support for the electrical and electronics sectors, persistent foreign selling weighed on the KOSPI. Most sectors saw declines, including securities (-4.0%), transportation and warehousing (-3.6%), transport equipment and parts (-3.3%), and food and beverage (-3.2%).
By market capitalization, large-cap stocks fell 0.8% and mid-cap stocks dropped 1.3%, while small-cap stocks rose 0.2%, highlighting a divergence in performance.
In terms of net flows, foreign investors sold 656.1 billion won and retail investors sold 507.4 billion won, while institutional investors net bought 703.2 billion won. Foreigners offloaded 239 billion won in electrical and electronics, 139.3 billion won in finance, and 51.1 billion won in transport equipment and parts.
The KOSDAQ also declined, led by the financial and pharmaceutical sectors. Finance (-4.8%), general services (-4.7%), and pharmaceuticals (-1.7%) were among the weakest. Foreign and retail investors net sold 68.6 billion won and 45.3 billion won, respectively, while institutions net bought 105.8 billion won.
Surge in Select Stocks Driven by CAR-T, Management Disputes, and Tender Offers
Vaxcell-Bio (323990) rose 29.97% to close at 4,835 won after disclosing preclinical research results for its solid tumor dual-target CAR-T therapy, which were presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2026).
Hanjin Kal Preferred Shares (18064K) hit the daily upper limit for the third consecutive day, closing at 104,700 won, fueled by expectations of a stake battle between the Hoban Group and Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Won-tae.
Information security firm Hanssak (430690) rose 29.87% to 3,630 won on expectations of increased security investment in the financial sector following a series of recent hacking incidents.
Hanwha Machinery & Service Holdings (Hanwha M&S) rose 10.14% to 7,710 won following news of an additional tender offer by President Kim Dong-seon, who plans to acquire up to 3.38 million common shares through the 30th.
Bio, Defense, and Food Sectors Weaken; Seegene Plummets 20%
Seegene (096530) fell 20.16% to 24,750 won after its third-quarter earnings missed market expectations, despite year-on-year growth in revenue and operating profit.
Alteogen (196170) dropped 15.91% to 168,600 won amid concerns that changes to U.S. drug price negotiation regulations could limit the benefits of delaying price negotiations through subcutaneous (SC) formulation transitions.
LIG Defense & Aerospace (079550) fell 9.82% to 294,000 won following weak third-quarter results and subsequent downward revisions of target prices by brokerage firms.
Samyang Foods (003230) fell 5.82% to 1,149,000 won due to concerns over profitability stemming from a decline in third-quarter net profit and a stronger won.
