MONEY RADAR
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MARKET BRIEFING · KOREA

The KOSPI finished higher after a 4% intraday plunge, but the money that turned it around went into batteries and solar rather than semiconductors.

November 4, 2026 · Read the Korean original

Major indices

  • KOSPI 5,683.80 +0.62%
  • KOSDAQ 714.95 +1.50%

What defines the session is less that the index recovered after falling more than 4% intraday, and more that market leadership changed hands in a single day. The KOSPI closed 0.62% higher at 5,683.80 and the KOSDAQ 1.50% higher at 714.95, with 577 advancers against 296 decliners on the KOSPI and 1,049 against 625 on the KOSDAQ, so gainers clearly outnumbered losers. Even so, only one stock across the two markets set a 252-session high while 98 set new lows, so the breadth was wide but this was not a rebound that recovered earlier peaks.

The recovery came from industries sensitive to clean-energy policy, EV batteries, hydrogen and petrochemicals, while cosmetics was the only industry left behind. With a Democratic majority in Congress looking likely after the US midterm elections, expectations built that clean-energy support would be maintained or expanded, and solar producer Hanwha Solutions jumped alongside battery cell maker Samsung SDI. On the other side, HYBE fell sharply despite a record quarterly result as brokerages cut target prices on forecasts of lower revenue next year, and LG H&H dropped after third-quarter operating profit came in below market expectations. Industry moves and individual names are collected under "Industry movers" below.

The bond market read the same news as a clearing of policy uncertainty rather than a flight to safety. The 10-year Korean government bond yield fell 3.3 basis points to 3.968% and the three-year fell 2.2 basis points to 3.714%, while the won was effectively unchanged at 1,341.2 per dollar, up 0.2 won, and gold rose 1.05% to 3,969.55 dollars an ounce. As of November 2, investor deposits stood at 90.46 trillion won, up 227.8 billion won from the previous observation, and credit balances rose 149.6 billion won to 29.22 trillion won, so both idle cash and leveraged buying edged up. Program non-arbitrage flows on the KOSPI were a net sale of 1.56 trillion won, which means mechanical buying was not what held the index up.

According to JoongAng Ilbo and Seoul Economic Daily, the prospect of a Democratic sweep was read as a risk of tighter regulation on AI data centers and shook semiconductor and large-cap AI names, and while foreign investors sold a net 2.50 trillion won on the main board, retail investors absorbed 1.14 trillion won and institutions 1.01 trillion won, turning the index around. Where the money went is clearer in ETFs: PLUS Solar & ESS led with a gain of 11.52%, followed by products holding solid-state battery and ESS names. The leading industry by StockRank, by contrast, came out as entertainment, lifted by KRAFTON's share buyback and cancellation, which does not line up with the industries that rose most on the day.

Index and stock moves, industry averages and the macro readings are confirmed figures that this site either calculates directly or takes from official statistics. KRAFTON's 300 billion won buyback and cancellation and the delay in the US Food and Drug Administration review for HLB are facts disclosed by the companies, but the attribution of the gains at Hanwha Solutions and Samsung SDI to the election result, and of the declines at HYBE and LG H&H to earnings expectations, appears to rest on press and brokerage commentary. Because of reporting lags, investor deposits and credit balances are as of November 2, US Treasury yields as of November 2, and crude prices as of October 27.

Watchlist stocks by industry

EV batteries +8.94% · 13 of 13 up

Hydrogen +8.16% · 5 of 5 up

Chemicals & refining +3.62% · 17 of 21 up

Entertainment & content +0.21% · 10 of 19 up

Bio & healthcare +0.27% · 24 of 34 up

Cosmetics & beauty -1.45% · 5 of 12 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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