KOSPI Falls 3.73%, Yet Individuals Buy ₩898.1 Billion: One Chart, Opposite Buttons

The chart was the same, yet the buttons were different. One investor sees danger, another sees opportunity. Order flow shows what different groups did, not why every person did it.

On October 20, KOSPI ended 215.27 points or 3.73% lower at 5,552.74, briefly falling as low as 5,493.24. Individual investors were net buyers of 898.1 billion won; foreigners were net sellers of 530 billion won, institutions of 1.0048 trillion won. Other corporate accounts bought on balance.

The striking angle is not only the drop but who was buying while others sold. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix declined, and the separate KOSDAQ index also fell 3.33%. Yet flows by participant category pointed in opposite directions.

Trade totals confirm individuals bought on net and foreign and institutional investors sold on net. They do not reveal that every individual believed a bottom was in, or that every overseas investor rejected Korean equities. Commentary in a public market-recap video is an opinion, not a survey.

A net buying figure subtracts the value sold from the value purchased; it does not forecast the next session's returns. Whether a decision was profitable becomes clearer only with later prices.

The verified October 20 close is 5,552.74 and the fall is 3.73%. The 898.1-billion-won net purchase figure is for individuals in the main stock market. Foreign and institutional figures and KOSDAQ's separate 3.33% decline are not conflated. A particular newly listed company's stock decline is also not the KOSPI itself.

This describes the October 20 close, not tomorrow's direction. Readers should verify subsequent market levels and flows in updated exchange data.