Stock Index and Kosdaq Records the Lowest Level

Korean Composite Stock Index dropped to 670s level and recorded the lowest level of this year.

At 5th of August, the index dropped by 24.92 points (3.55%) compared to the last weekend and closed at 675.76 points.

Kosdaq Index also dropped by 2.36 points (4.09%) and closed at 55.24 points.

The sudden drop in the stock markets was mainly affected by US economy. The performance of US economy didn’t reach the expectation and it was reflected into the sudden drop of Dow-Johns Index and Nasdaq Index in New York Stock Exchange.

According to the announcement in US at the 1st of August, ISM (Institute for Supply Management) Index for July dropped to 50.5 from 56.2 for June. CCI (Consumer Confidence Index) also dropped to 97.1 from 106.3 for June. Domestic BSI (Business Survey Index) also has been dropping since last April, and it causes investors’ anxiety.

Foreign investors keep selling stocks since 15th of June. The net selling by them was about 150 billion won.

According to the items, Samsung Electronics dropped by 10,500 won (3.28%) and closed at 309,000 won. Top ranked companies in aggregated value of listed stocks such as SK Telecom, Kukmin Bank, KT etc experienced dropping in stock values.

larosa@donga.com