After more than 3 years and 5 months, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) surpassed the 2900 mark and continued its 'high point rally' on the 12th. It rose for the 7th consecutive trading day and exceeded 2920. Despite the weakness in semiconductor stocks, nuclear power, shipbuilding, and automotive stocks showed strength, leading the index. The market capitalization of the KOSDAQ market reached a new all-time high.
According to the Korea Exchange, the KOSPI index closed at 2920.03, up 12.99 points (0.45%) from the previous trading day. Following the breach of the 2900 mark for the first time in 3 years and 5 months the day before, it continued its upward trend, marking 7 consecutive trading days of increases. The index started at 2909.99 in the morning and rose as high as 2934.31 during the day.
Foreign investors led the index rise by making net purchases for 7 consecutive transactions, buying a net amount of 365.2 billion won. Institutions net sold 273.4 billion won, while individuals net sold 89.6 billion won.
Although it was 'witching day' when futures and options contracts expire simultaneously, it did not impose a significant burden on the index. According to Korea Investment & Securities, the KOSPI index rose by 0.14% compared to the previous simultaneous trading price. Despite net selling from financial investments and pension funds, foreign investors and investment trusts absorbed the volume.
With President Lee Jae-myung's commitment to boosting the stock market, highlighted by the major pledge of 'KOSPI Index 5000', along with expectations for supplementary budget formulation, the index's high point rally seems to continue. The won-dollar exchange rate in the Seoul foreign exchange market also fell by 12.50 won compared to the previous day as of 3:55 p.m.
Kim Dae-seung, a researcher at Hyundai Motor Securities, noted, 'The Lee Jae-myung administration has prioritized capital market activation as a policy agenda, and expectations to resolve the Korea discount (the undervaluation of the Korean stock market) are continuing.'
Thanks to the index rise, the total market capitalization of listed companies in the securities market reached a new all-time high of 2384.3236 trillion won. Just a day after surpassing the previous high of 2378.9210 trillion won from July 11 of last year (2363.6270 trillion won), it increased slightly again.
Although major semiconductor stocks like Samsung Electronics and SK hynix saw a decline in their stock prices, automotive, defense, and nuclear-related stocks all rose. In particular, Doosan Enerbility saw its stock rise for 7 consecutive days on the back of expectations for expanded overseas nuclear power orders.
Stocks of secondary battery companies, including LG Energy Solution, also rose on this day. As the prices had recently dropped due to sluggish performance in the secondary battery sector, there was a surge in bargain buying. Samsung SDI also ended the day higher. The stock price of POSCO FUTURE M, focused on secondary battery materials, rose by over 6%.
The KOSDAQ index closed at 786.29, up 3.16 points (0.40%) from the previous trading day. The KOSDAQ index started the day on a slight decline but quickly turned around to hit a new high for the year. This is the highest level in 10 months since August 1 of last year (813.53).
Most of the stock prices of top KOSDAQ companies rose. As secondary battery stocks like Ecopro and ECOPRO BM rebounded, pharmaceutical stocks such as Alteogen, HLB, and PharmaResearch also ended strongly. Among the top 10 stocks, the decline was limited to just one stock, LigaChem Biosciences.