0
An electronic board at the Korea Exchange in Seoul displays market figures on October 14. / Source: Korea Exchange

South Korea’s Kospi and Kosdaq opened higher on Tuesday on retail buying, with the Kospi reclaiming the 3,600 mark. Moments after the bell, the Kospi touched a record intraday high of 3,628.75.

As of the open, the Kospi added 19.57 points, or 0.55%, to 3,604.12, according to the Korea Exchange. Retail investors bought about ₩270 billion, while foreigners and institutions sold roughly ₩8.3 billion and ₩267.6 billion, respectively.

Among top-cap names early on, Samsung Electronics (+2.57%), SK hynix (+3.37%), LG Energy Solution (+1.94%), Samsung Electronics (pref., +1.91%), Hanwha Aerospace (+0.5%), Doosan Enerbility (+1.68%) and Hyundai Motor (+0.23%) advanced, while Samsung Biologics (−0.39%), HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (−1.92%) and KB Financial (−0.9%) declined.

The Kosdaq started at 866.95, up 4.88 points or 0.57%. Retail investors posted net purchases of about ₩88.8 billion, while foreigners and institutions were net sellers of roughly ₩75.7 billion and ₩13.0 billion, respectively.

Within Kosdaq heavyweights, Alteogen (+1.01%), EcoPro BM (+1.95%), EcoPro (+1.75%), Peptron (+0.36%), ABL Bio (+0.44%) and Samchundang Pharm (+0.25%) rose; Rainbow Robotics (−0.73%), PharmaResearch (−0.18%), LegoChem Biosciences (−0.07%) and HLB (−1.14%) fell.

In foreign exchange, the won traded at ₩1,427.8 per dollar as of 9 a.m., up ₩0.8 (0.06%) from the previous session.