Standard monthly KOSPI 200 options expire on the second Thursday of each month and settle against the 15:20-15:30 closing auction, so some hedge- and arbitrage-linked program flows concentrate into those final ten minutes. Here is how to read the futures basis and KRX program-trade balance beforehand — and what those indicators can and cannot tell you — with a worked reading of August 2026 foreign-flow data.
Korea’s KOSPI fell 4.58% as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix tracked the Nasdaq’s AI-spending scare, triggering a sell-side sidecar. KOSDAQ closed higher on a biotech rotation, and retail investors bought the dip against heavy foreign selling.
Korea’s KOSPI closed at 6,598.26, up 3.76%, after AI semiconductor euphoria from Wall Street triggered a buy-side sidecar and produced 12 limit-up stocks — the most in a day since tracking began in June 2022. Foreigners bought over 1.4 trillion won intraday while retail investors sold.
A day after a 5.12% plunge, the KOSPI swung from +1.8% to -2.7% intraday before stabilizing near 6,228 by late morning, as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix steadied. The KOSDAQ was up nearly 5% by late morning, triggering its third consecutive buy-side sidecar as money rotated into biotech, robotics and batteries. Figures for August 4 are an intraday snapshot, not final closes.
The KOSPI fell 5.12% to 6,257.45 as traders booked profits from Friday’s record 17.91% surge, with Samsung Electronics and SK hynix both down almost 9%. The KOSDAQ climbed 2.44% and triggered a buy sidecar as money rotated into bio and robotics names.
The KOSPI surged 17.91% to 6,595.45 — its biggest one-day gain on record — as strong US tech earnings eased AI profitability fears and foreign investors piled back in after a brutal two-week selloff capped by back-to-back circuit breakers.
The KOSPI fell 1.23% to 5,593.56 for a third straight loss as a morning push toward 6,000 collapsed under semiconductor profit-taking. SK hynix sank 5.6% while batteries and banks rallied, and foreign investors returned as net buyers on the main board.
Korea’s KOSPI fell 5.98% and the KOSDAQ 6.12%, with market-wide circuit breakers halting both boards for a second straight day. SK hynix’s guidance letdown and forced selling from single-stock leveraged products drove the slide.
Korean margin loans (sinyong yungja) stood at 32.67 trillion won as of July 24, 2026 — roughly 31% of the 105.6 trillion won parked in investor deposit accounts. Here is where to find both KOFIA figures, how forced liquidation (bandae maemae) actually works, and how to read the ratio before a drawdown, not after.
The KOSPI fell 5.72% and the KOSDAQ 5.32% as new US tariffs, oil above $100 and an overnight Wall Street slide hit at once, triggering sell sidecars. Foreigners dumped roughly $2.2B of KOSPI shares while Samsung Biologics jumped 10% on record earnings.