Goldman Sachs Korea Weekly Kickstart: KOSPI Performance, Foreign Ownership & FTSE Rebalancing Analysis

The KOSPI declined 2% this week driven by foreign net selling in Tech, even as the KRW appreciated and industrial sectors outperformed. High overall foreign index ownership is distorted by heavy weighting in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, while sector-level tech ownership has dropped more than 2 SD below historical averages.

Key Takeaways

• 1.KOSPI fell 2% wow despite KRW strength, led lower by underperformance in Tech, Auto, and Retail sectors, whereas Construction, Machinery, and Shipbuilding outperformed.
• 2.Foreign ownership of the KOSPI remains 1.3 standard deviations above historical average due to index concentration in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, but semiconductor sector foreign ownership has dropped >2 standard deviations below historical mean.
• 3.The upcoming FTSE September 2026 GEIS rebalancing is expected to generate net passive inflows of US$1.2bn into Korea, heavily concentrated in Tech Hardware & Semis (+US$1.2bn).

Table of Contents

• Charts of the week: Foreign Ownership Breakdown
• Charts of the week: FTSE Global Equity Index Series Rebalancing Review and Flow Implications (September 2026)
• Summary
• Investment flows
• Macro Indicators
• Performance
• Valuations
• Valuation discount relative to Global and Asia regional peers
• Flows
• Currency, rates and commodities
• Korea ERB, Credit and Market Technicals
• Disclosure Appendix

Report data

FTSE Korea: Current vs. Pro forma changes and potential passive flows following the FTSE GEIS rebalancing — as of August 28, 2026.

Reports in this series

Korea Weekly Kickstart is shown in chronological order through this edition, published on August 28, 2026.

Part of the Korea Weekly Kickstart series — view all 9 editions

Looking for the latest edition? Korea Weekly Kickstart KOSPI rebounded by 3.3 amid industrials' outperformance and stronger KRW ahead of FOMC (Sep 11, 2026)

1. May 10Korea Weekly Kickstart KOSPI rallied by 14 amid strong tech rally and better than expected exports
2. May 24Korea Weekly Kickstart KOSPI gained 5 amid encouraging Nvidia earnings
3. Jun 12Korea Weekly Kickstart KOSPI ended the week down moderately amid continued volatility and the US core CPI below consensus
4. Jul 4Korea Weekly Kickstart KOSPI dropped by 4 amid continued market volatility and foreign outflows
5. Jul 24Korea Weekly Kickstart KOSPI declined by 2 despite foreign inflows and Alphabet's AI capex boost
6. Aug 7Korea Weekly Kickstart KOSPI down by 5 amid continued volatility and foreign outflows despite broader market breadth

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