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MARKET BRIEFING · KOREA

The low price-to-book list that looked like a stigma, together with last month's hardest-hit industries, pulled the index up through the US semiconductor shock.

November 2, 2026 · Read the Korean original

Major indices

  • KOSPI 5,859.08 +2.24%
  • KOSDAQ 734.36 +1.38%

The index opened more than 1% lower on the plunge in US semiconductor shares, then turned during the session, with the KOSPI closing 2.24% higher at 5,859.08 and the KOSDAQ 1.38% higher at 734.36. The balance tilted heavily toward gainers, 671 to 214 on the KOSPI and 1,151 to 517 on the KOSDAQ. Still, it is too early to call this a recovery. On the same day only 2 stocks across the KOSPI and KOSDAQ set a new 252-session high, while 79 set a new low.

What lifted the index was the heavy industry that had fallen hardest last month. Shipbuilding, power grid, construction and steel rose together while financial services and entertainment lagged, so the lopsided advance was effectively the work of those industries. The Korea Exchange published its first list of 151 low price-to-book companies, and 115 of them rose, which Korea Economic TV reported was read as an expectation of shareholder returns rather than as a stigma. Hyundai Steel, on the list, gained 11.61% and Lotte Shopping 9.28%. Industry moves and individual names are laid out below under industry highlights.

Bonds moved the same way as stocks, with the 3-year government bond yield up 2.5bp to 3.740% and the 10-year up 2.6bp to 4.034%, putting the 10-year back above 4%, while the won weakened as the won-dollar rate rose 1.9 won to 1,337.2. With gold up 0.74% to 3,906.15 dollars an ounce and silver up 1.85% to 50.19 dollars, demand for safe havens is still there as well. Money coming into the market, by contrast, has yet to grow. Investor deposits stood at 88.7133 trillion won as of October 29, up 419.8 billion won from the previous observation, but credit balance financing on the same date was 29.0886 trillion won, down 1.2747 trillion won from five observations earlier. KOSPI non-arbitrage program buying was a net 91.5 billion won, for a five-session total of 1.5808 trillion won, and Korea's weight in the MSCI Emerging Markets index was 19.6% as of October 30, up 0.87 percentage points in a week but 4.99 points below its June peak.

Korea moved opposite to the US because the overnight news became a reason to buy the dip here. US semiconductor shares collapsed on Intel's earnings shock, but Yonhap News TV reported that domestic buyers stepped into prices already lowered by last week's slide, and Maeil Business Newspaper noted that pension funds bought 1 trillion won over two days, lifting power equipment, shipbuilding and defense names that had fallen the most. Shipbuilding drew the most money. News1 reported that US order news and improving earnings expectations arrived together, and among ETFs the SOL Shipbuilding Equipment fund was strongest, up 8.11%. The leading industry by relative strength was entertainment and the representative stock was LG Display, up 1.78%, but neither was near the front on the day's moves, so it seems fairer to say money went toward the deepest decliners rather than toward relative strength.

The KOSPI and KOSDAQ levels and the government bond yields are figures confirmed at the same values across several separate outlets. The reading that the low price-to-book list drove the rebound, and the expectation of US orders for shipbuilders, rest on press and brokerage commentary and may need more time to confirm. Investor deposits and credit balance financing are as of October 29, and the MSCI weight is as of October 30. The exchange rate follows this site's own series, which differs from the Seoul foreign exchange market afternoon close, so the size of the move may read differently. LG Display also had a filing designating it an unfaithful disclosure corporation on the day, which should be read alongside the share price.

Watchlist stocks by industry

Shipbuilding +7.26% · 15 of 15 up

Power infrastructure +5.98% · 11 of 12 up

Construction & infrastructure +3.35% · 17 of 17 up

Steel & metals +3.01% · 11 of 14 up

Entertainment & content -0.19% · 9 of 19 up

Financial services -1.25% · 5 of 20 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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