Kospi inches up 0.62% as institutional buying offsets AI-powered sell-off

Seoul shares ended higher Thursday as institutional buying helped offset heavy retail selling amid a reassessment of the outlook for AI demand. The won fell against the dollar.

After opening 3.3 percent higher, the benchmark Kospi trimmed earlier gains to close up 45.12 points, or 0.62 percent, at 7,291.91.

Trade volume was moderate at 574.75 million shares worth 37.46 trillion won ($24.9 billion), with decliners outnumbering gainers 651 to 235.

Institutions and foreigners bought a net 1.29 trillion won and 137.54 billion won, respectively, while individuals sold a net 1.33 trillion won.

Investors remained concerned about renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, as well as uncertainty over the outlook for AI demand, analysts said.

"Renewed tensions between the United States and Iran and selling by retail investors amid heightened market volatility weighed on the benchmark index," Kang Jin-hyuk, an analyst at Shinhan Securities, said.

Overnight, U.S. stocks ended mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.81 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 4.19 percent.

A rebound in technology stocks helped the market.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.18 percent to 278,000 won, while chip giant SK hynix climbed 5.3 percent to 2,186,000 won.

Korea Aerospace Industries, the country's sole aircraft manufacturer, jumped 5.6 percent to 150,000 won and S-Oil gained 1.44 percent to 133,500 won.

Among decliners, top carmaker Hyundai Motor fell 3.68 percent to 445,500 won and flag carrier Korean Air backtracked 5.15 percent to 26,700 won.

The Korean won strengthened by 7.6 won from the previous session, trading at 1,506.1 won per U.S. dollar as of 3:30 p.m.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys rose 0.3 basis point to 3.778 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds climbed 1.7 basis points to 4.016 percent.

Yonhap