Korea's composite index narrows losses; local brokerages say pension funds entered to buy

Odaily News: South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index briefly erased a drop of as much as 3.6%, and is now down 0.1%. Lim Roy, an equity sales trader at Samsung Securities, said pension funds notably bought KOSPI constituent stocks in late trading, with a focus on the technology sector. Lim said pension funds recorded net purchases of 120 billion won in stocks within 20 minutes. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix shares were roughly flat, recovering ground after both had fallen more than 4% earlier. Retail investors recorded net purchases of 785 billion won in KOSPI stocks, while foreign investors recorded net sales of 931 billion won. The KOSDAQ index of small-cap stocks narrowed its decline from an earlier 4% to around 0.8%.