Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance pulls back after abrupt spike

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance CI

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co. saw its shares fall by more than 20 percent on Friday morning, reversing the previous day’s abrupt late-session spike that triggered market scrutiny.

Shares of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance were trading at 499,000 won ($338) as of 9:08 a.m. on Friday, down 20.79 percent from the previous day.

The stock opened at 507,000 won, down 19.52 percent, and slid to 490,000 won before partially trimming losses.

Foreign securities firm JPMorgan Chase & Co. was the largest net seller in early dealings.

On Thursday, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance shares had traded steadily before surging 28.31 percent to 630,000 won almost simultaneously with the market close, prompting its designation as a stock requiring investor caution.

Though some traders speculated that an erroneous order may have caused the jump, market participants said the move was more likely driven by heavy profit-taking tied to arbitrage trades ahead of the December futures and options expiry.

(KRX)

Meanwhile, shares of medical microneedle platform developer QuadMedicine jumped nearly 60 percent on the first day of its Kosdaq debut.

The stock was up 59 percent at 23,850 won as of 9:42 a.m. after touching 26,800 won.

Its technology supports vaccines, peptides, and synthetic drugs, offering minimally invasive and room-temperature-stable drug delivery.

During the bookbuilding session held between November 24 and 28, 2,249 institutions joined, resulting in a competition ratio of 1,139.61 to 1. The offering price was set at the top end of the desired range.

The public subscription, held on December 2 and 3, recorded a competition ratio of 607 to 1, with about 1.94 trillion won in deposits collected.

Separately, SPHERE Corp., a specialty alloy maker, surged 24.16 percent to 11,770 won as of 9:42 a.m.

The Kosdaq-listed company announced after the close on Thursday that it secured an 8.4 billion won contract to supply special alloys to a U.S. aerospace company.

The amount is equal to 328.21 percent of its 2024 sales.

Shares of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance closed at 489,500 won on Friday, down 22.30 percent from the previous session. QuadMedicine finished at 17,630 won and SPHERE ended at 11,360 won.