The KOSPI index rose nearly 3% as expectations for the new government's policies following President Lee Jae-myung's inauguration were reflected.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 4th, the KOSPI index closing price was recorded at 2,770.84, up 71.87 points (2.66%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 2,737.92, up 38.95 points (1.44%) from the previous day, and gradually expanded its gains to quickly rise to the 2,670 level. This is the first time the index has exceeded the 2,770 level in about a year.
Foreign investors and institutional investors purchased 1.1214 trillion won and 259.6 billion won worth of stocks, respectively, driving up the index. In contrast, individual investors sold 1.354 trillion won worth of stocks.
Securities stocks showed particularly strong performance with President Lee, who has repeatedly expressed his will to achieve 'KOSPI 5000'. Mirae Asset Securities (13.25%), Bookook Securities (22.67%), and SK Securities (11.34%) all set new 52-week highs during trading. Expectations for corporate governance improvements led to Hanwha (20.98%) and CJ (12.19%) also reaching 52-week highs, with LS (7.78%) also rising. Kim Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said, "The stock price environment surrounding major stocks that could resolve the Korea Discount will be favorable." SK Hynix (4.82%), Samsung Electronics (1.76%), and Hyundai Motor (1.09%) also mostly rose.
The KOSDAQ index closed at 750.21, up 9.92 points (1.34%) from the previous trading day. Alteogen (8.86%) and Lino Industrial (7.39%) rose, but Peptron closed at the lower limit due to growing concerns about technology contracts.
As of 3:30 PM, the won-dollar exchange rate in the Seoul foreign exchange market was trading at 1,369.5 won, down 3.6 won from the previous trading day.
Unlike the stock market, the virtual asset market remained stagnant. As of 3:30 PM, the price of one Bitcoin was trading at 146.7 million won on Upbit and 146.65 million won on Bithumb. In dollars, CoinMarketCap showed Bitcoin at $105,344 (approximately 144.45 million won). This is a 3.2% decline compared to a week ago.
The background of Bitcoin's weakness is largely attributed to investment sentiment being dampened by the ongoing US tariff conflict. According to Passive Investors, 11 Bitcoin spot ETFs listed in the US saw a net sell-off of $1.23 billion (approximately 1.6864 trillion won) over the past three trading days.
