MONEY RADAR
—
MARKET BRIEFING · KOREA

On a day the index fell more than 3%, money left semiconductors and batteries for convenience stores and travel names

November 3, 2026 · Read the Korean original

Major indices

  • KOSPI 5,648.79 -3.59%
  • KOSDAQ 704.39 -4.08%

The market gave back the previous day's rebound in a single session. The KOSPI closed 3.59% lower at 5,648.79 and the KOSDAQ fell 4.08% to 704.39, but the number of declining shares says more than the index drop. On the KOSPI 249 stocks rose and 631 fell, while on the KOSDAQ 422 rose against 1,255 decliners, so this was not a handful of large caps slipping but the whole market pulling back. Only one stock set a 52-week high while 64 marked new lows.

What fell hardest was what had risen most. Only 1 of 43 semiconductor names advanced and all 13 EV battery names declined, with robotics and hydrogen dragged down in the same bundle. The only industries that held onto gains were defensive ones such as food and beverage and travel and retail. SAMSUNG SDI, the market's leading stock, fell 9.20% and broke its advance in one day, which captures the character of the session, while HANJINKAL closed limit-up as the contest for shares between Hoban Group and chairman Cho Won-tae reignited. Industry moves and individual names are laid out under "Industry watchlist" below.

Where the money leaving equities went shows up in bonds. The 10-year Korean treasury yield fell 3.3 basis points to 4.001% and the 3-year fell 0.4 basis point to 3.736%, while gold rose to 3,932.57 dollars an ounce. The won closed at 1,341.0 per dollar, which is a contained move for a day when foreign investors sold more than a trillion won. Investor deposits stood at 90.2351 trillion won as of October 30, up 1.5218 trillion won from the previous reading, so the cash on the sidelines is thicker, yet credit balances on the same date came to 29.0664 trillion won, down 1.0857 trillion won over five sessions, meaning leveraged positions are being unwound. Program trading also showed 1.0084 trillion won of net non-arbitrage selling on the KOSPI.

The catalysts came from abroad. Renewed doubts in the United States about how artificial intelligence investment will be funded, compounded by uncertainty ahead of the midterm elections, carried straight over (Money Today), and hopes for peace talks between the United States and Iran sent crude down more than 7%, knocking refiners apart on their own, with S-Oil falling 11.77% (Yonhap News). Foreign investors sold 1.5298 trillion won and institutions 514.7 billion won on the main board (Korea Economic Daily). The money that stayed in the market went toward defensives and governance plays. KODEX Consumer Discretionary rose 6.9% and TIGER 200 Consumer Discretionary 2.51%, the only products running against the tide, and on our industry map Entertainment held up best in relative terms.

Index and stock returns, along with the rate, currency and fund-flow figures, are settled values. Reading the decline as a product of the oil slide and worries over artificial intelligence spending is an inference drawn from press reports. Our own oil series only reaches WTI at 103.37 dollars as of October 27, so last night's plunge is not yet reflected, and the deposit and credit balance figures are as of October 30. That KOREA PETRO CHEMICAL rose 9.48% on a day crude collapsed may reflect relief on input costs, though the company has disclosed nothing to confirm it.

Watchlist stocks by industry

Semiconductors -6.96% · 1 of 43 up

EV batteries -6.76% · 0 of 13 up

Chemicals & refining -2.06% · 6 of 21 up

Power infrastructure -4.33% · 2 of 12 up

Food & staples +1.02% · 10 of 13 up

Travel & leisure +0.43% · 9 of 16 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.

← All articles