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MARKET BRIEFING · KOREA

The KOSPI rose more than 3%, yet more stocks fell than rose on the main board.

October 21, 2026 · Read the Korean original

Major indices

  • KOSPI 5,735.66 +3.29%
  • KOSDAQ 792.76 +1.38%

Looking only at the index it was a one-day snapback, but in practice large-cap semiconductors lifted the whole market on their own. While the KOSPI closed 3.29% higher at 5,735.66, only 411 stocks on the main board advanced against 460 that fell, whereas the KOSDAQ rose 1.38% with 987 advancers, a far broader gain by stock count. The index jumped enough to trigger a buy-side sidecar, yet only two stocks set 252-session highs against 16 at new lows, so last week's slide has not been erased.

By industry, semiconductors and the equipment and materials around them, together with power infrastructure and construction, pulled the index up, while food staples, petrochemicals and steel fell back. Semiconductors showed the sharpest crowding, with 37 of the 43 stocks we track advancing, and that same crowding is why fewer KOSPI stocks rose than fell. Among individual names, SK gained 12.62% as governance and shareholder-return demands converged on it, while LIG Defense&Aerospace fell 9.03% after the Defense Acquisition Program Administration barred it from public bidding for two years, leaving the defense industry split within itself. Industry moves and the stocks behind them are set out below under industry movers.

On the macro side, domestic yields and the won-dollar rate fell together, a combination friendly to risk assets. The won-dollar rate eased 4.1 won to 1,328.0, while the three-year treasury yield fell 1.8bp to 3.822% and the ten-year fell 1.6bp to 4.16%, diverging from the US ten-year, which rose 6bp to 5.15% as of October 19. Equity cash, by contrast, is still leaving. As of October 19 investor deposits stood at 92.0966 trillion won, down 2.3063 trillion won from the previous observation, and credit balances fell 1.1446 trillion won to 31.1083 trillion won. What held the index up today was 862.9 billion won of non-arbitrage program buying on the KOSPI, while Korea's weight in the MSCI Emerging Markets index stood at 18.73% as of October 19, down 1.4 percentage points in a week, so Korea's weight inside the index has not yet recovered.

The trigger was an overnight recovery in sentiment toward artificial intelligence investment, which showed up locally as order flow into large-cap semiconductors. Hankyung reported that foreign investors bought both Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, and Yonhap Infomax noted that strong exports over October 1-20 raised earnings expectations for the semiconductor industry. The money went to the same place. In our value chains semiconductors moved up as the leading industry with the semiconductor test process strongest, and among ETFs TIGER MSCI Korea TR rose 4.58%. The leading stock, Samsung Biologics, rose 1.87% after disclosing third-quarter revenue of 1.4903 trillion won and operating profit of 640.1 billion won.

To separate what is settled: the index levels, advance-decline counts, industry and standout stock moves, and the macro and equity-cash figures are confirmed values. The reasons behind SK's rise and the recovery in semiconductor flows rest on press accounts and remain estimates, while LIG Defense&Aerospace's drop follows a confirmed sanction. Indicators with reporting lags carry different reference dates: equity cash, US yields and the MSCI weight are as of October 19, and crude oil prices as of October 14.

Watchlist stocks by industry

Display & OLED +3.38% · 3 of 3 up

Semiconductors +3.07% · 37 of 43 up

Power infrastructure +2.91% · 10 of 12 up

Construction & infrastructure +1.63% · 11 of 17 up

Chemicals & refining -0.63% · 8 of 21 up

Food & staples -1.31% · 3 of 13 up

Sources (Korean-language)

This market briefing was compiled by AI from this site's own price and filing data together with public news reports, and translated from the Korean original. Please check the sources below before relying on it.

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