[Weekly Market Review] KOSPI Index Nearing 7,000, Why Foreigners Bought Over 6 Trillion Won This Week

Three-Point Summary 1. KOSPI closed at 6,977.94 after five consecutive days of gains. Weekly gain was 11.49%. 2. Foreigners net-purchased 6.56 trillion won in KOSPI. Retail investors sold over 7 trillion. 3. Samsung Electronics surged 18.8%, leading the index. August early-month semiconductor exports hit record highs.

Here's what happened in Korea's stock market from August 10–14, 2026. The bottom line: KOSPI rose for five consecutive trading days, closing just 22 points shy of the 7,000 mark. Given that the index fell more than 5% the week before, it was a complete turnaround.

But there's something odd about this rally. While the index climbed 11%, retail investors offloaded 7 trillion won worth of stock. In other words, retail didn't smile as much as the index. Let me walk you through what happened.

It went up all five days

First, the numbers. KOSPI started at 6,258.77 on August 7 and closed at 6,977.94 on August 14—a gain of 719 points, or 11.49%. KOSDAQ rose from 798.81 to 864.65, up 8.24%.

Daily moves. KOSPI didn't finish in the red a single day.

What stands out is how the gains unfolded. Monday and Tuesday saw quiet gains of 0.65% and 0.73% respectively. Then Wednesday hit 3.68%, Thursday 3.56%, and Friday 2.42%—the rally picked up momentum as the week went on. It's like a fire that started small and burned bigger toward week's end.

KOSPI's weekly path. Gray bars show each day's intraday highs and lows.

On Friday, we briefly touched 7,010.86 intraday, clearing the 7,000 line for a moment. But after slipping back to 6,848 mid-morning, the index recovered late in the day, ultimately closing below 7,000. Closing above 6,800—on a closing basis—was the first time since July 23.

Foreigners bought, retail sold

In one sentence: flows flipped this week. Foreigners, who sold 6 trillion won the prior week, net-purchased 6.56 trillion won in KOSPI this week. Retail investors countered by selling 7.08 trillion. Institutions struck a balance with 776 billion won in net buying.

KOSPI investor flows. Bigger blue bars, stronger index performance.

Day by day, the picture clarifies. Through Monday, foreigners were still selling—1.49 trillion won worth. But Tuesday they flipped to small net buying, then Wednesday came in with 2.84 trillion, Thursday 2.12 trillion, and Friday 3.05 trillion in purchases. Friday's 3 trillion was the largest daily buy of the week. Retail did the opposite. They dumped 3.19 trillion Wednesday and 2.74 trillion Thursday. They sold hardest on the two days the index climbed most. It looks like they were trimming positions they'd picked up during the previous week's selloff. When you look at just the results, foreigners captured a big chunk of this week's gains.

Two semiconductor names led the charge

The next question is: what did foreigners buy? The answer is semiconductors. Samsung Electronics jumped 18.84% for the week, SK Hynix 15.67%. Both handily beat the 11.49% index gain.

Semiconductor leaders vs. KOSPI. The two stocks climbed far steeper than the index.

The tailwinds stacked up over four days. Tuesday, customs released export figures for August 1–10 and revealed semiconductor shipments at $995 million—up 155.4% year-over-year. For an early-month August reading, it's a record, and semiconductors now account for 46.8% of total exports. On this news, Samsung Electronics bounced 4.13%.

Wednesday brought word that Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Temasek was exploring direct investment in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Simultaneously, U.S. AI cloud firms CoreWeave and server maker Super Micro both reported results that beat expectations, sweeping away the AI investment slowdown concerns that had weighed on markets all July. That day, Samsung Electronics surged 6.68%, SK Hynix 5.54%, triggering buy-side circuit breakers in KOSPI.

Friday, SanDisk laid out ambitious targets at its investor day: annual revenue growth in double digits through 2028–2030 and gross margins around 80%. It was a rebuttal to memory-peak theories, and domestic semiconductor shares rallied again on the announcement.

Among individual names, Samsung Electro-Mechanics caught the eye. Morgan Stanley upgraded its top Korea tech pick from Samsung Electronics to Samsung Electro-Mechanics, hiking the price target from 2.56 million won to 2.62 million. It soared 12.58% in just one day Thursday.

KOSDAQ wrapped up Monday

KOSDAQ marched to a different beat. The weekly gain was 8.24%, but 6.97 percentage points of it came in a single Monday. The remaining four days—0.39%, 0.12%, 0.29%, 0.38%—were essentially flat.

Weekly cumulative returns for both indices. KOSDAQ led early but KOSPI caught up by Thursday.

Monday's KOSDAQ spike stemmed from U.S. July jobs shock. Nonfarm payrolls fell 23,000 when expectations called for 80,000 growth, and May and June figures were revised down by a combined 103,000. With the labor market cooling, the argument for more rate hikes weakened. Rate-sensitive pharma, biotech, and smaller growth stocks all jumped together. KOSDAQ triggered its 18th buy-side circuit breaker of the year that day.

After that, momentum fizzled. Foreigners and institutions sold KOSDAQ for four straight days from Tuesday through Friday—a mirror image of KOSPI flows. Retail stepped in to buy. Alteo Therapeutics, the top KOSDAQ name, popped 14.10% Monday, then gave back 5.89% Tuesday and 3.05% Wednesday.

What sparked this week's limit-ups

I tallied all the limit-up and surge stocks across the five trading days and grouped them by catalyst. Semiconductors dominated with 63 instances, followed by robotics and AI at 27.

Theme distribution among limit-up and surge stocks for the week. Semiconductor concentration is striking.

After semiconductors, construction and cement were the most interesting. Tuesday, the President ordered an acceleration of a second semiconductor cluster project in Honam, and Geumho Engineering hit limit-ups two days running. Regional construction and cement names like Namhwa Construction and Seosan joined the rally. Again, it all traced back to semiconductors.

Cosmetics had a good week too. Cosmeca Korea delivered an earnings surprise for Q2, and Silicontouch and Beauty Skin followed suit. But Thursday saw Silicontouch crater 9.83% as profit-taking hit hard. Friday, Hyundai Motor jumped 8.24% on news of supply-chain rebuilding in robotics, passing the baton to robots and automakers.

On the flip side, there were clear losers. Optical communications—the hottest theme Monday—landed in the decliners list Friday as U.S.-linked names sold off. Entertainment took a hit as JYP plunged 11.20% on Q2 earnings disappointment and uncertainty over TWICE re-signing. In gaming, Pearlabyss fell 14.50% as results missed consensus. Precious metals slid as global gold and silver prices fell.

What to watch next week

First, check the calendar. August 15 is Liberation Day, falling on a Saturday, so Monday, August 17 is a substitute holiday. KOSPI, KOSDAQ, and the bond market will all be closed. Next week is a four-day week starting Tuesday. The U.S. markets open normally, so Monday evening New York flows could all hit Tuesday morning here at once.

What to Watch	This Week's Status	Confirmation Signal
Foreign net buying	Four consecutive buying days, 6.6 trillion for the week	When the buy streak breaks
KOSPI 7,000 line	Touched 7,010 intraday, closed 6,977	Closes above it
Won/Dollar rate	1,418.4 → 1,418.3, flat	Breaks above 1,420
Middle East / Oil	Strait of Hormuz talks stalled	Oil rallies again
Jackson Hole conference	Scheduled for August 27–29	September rate guidance

This week's rally rested on U.S. inflation. July consumer prices rose 3.4% year-over-year, down from June's 3.5%, and producer prices were flat month-over-month. After those two came in, the probability of a September hold on rates climbed from 57.0% to 67.6%. The root of this rebound is less worry about further rate hikes.

Put differently, if inflation ticks higher again, that narrative wobbles. Talks over the Strait of Hormuz remain deadlocked, and Houthi forces drone-struck Saudi Aramco facilities. If oil surges again, the inflation comfort zone shrinks. Note that 3-year Korea Treasury yields actually crept up from 3.778% to 3.796% this week—a small sign the market isn't completely at ease.

One more thing: this week's rally leaned hard on two semiconductor names. The index is up 11%, but strip out Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix and the picture changes dramatically. How much the index can hold when semiconductors are resting is the fastest way to gauge if this rebound is real.

This article is informational, reviewing the past week—not a recommendation to buy or sell. Investment decisions and outcomes are your own responsibility.

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