Stock Prices Rising for the Sixth Day in a Row

Encouraged by foreign investors buying up over 600 billion won in Korean shares, the Korean Stock Price Index or KOSPI, once peaking at 715.80, has been rising for six consecutive days. Stock markets were up worldwide such as that in Japan, Taiwan, the U.S., and Germany.

KOSPI closed at 708.34 yesterday, up 4.05 points or 0.57% from the previous day. From six days ago, when the upturn began, KOSPI gained 36.41 points of 5.7%. The Kosdaq Index, on the other hand, closed at 53.10, down by 0.11 points or 0.21%.

The upswing in the stock market was driven by foreign investors, who poured 636.9 billion won into the Korea Stock Exchange and 40.4 billion won into the Kosdaq market. Market gains were somewhat compensated by sell-offs on the other side: institutional investors sold shares worth 455.9 billion won while individual investors sold off 170.8 billion worth of stocks.

As a majority of foreign buyers picked up Samsung Electronics (3.24%), KookMin Bank (4.04%), POSCO (5.02%), Samsung SDI (2.04%), the larger capital stocks enjoyed slight gains, whereas items, put on big sale, suffered losses. All in all, 450 items on the exchange and 453 on the Kosdaq market declined, which surpassed the number of gains: 291 on the exchange and 309 on Kosdaq advanced.

On the same day, Japan`s Nikkei Index, closing at 9,898.72, was up 103.56 or 1.06%, but failed to clear the 10,000 mark. Asian stock markets also increased: Taiwan`s Stock Index jumped 0.86% and Hong Kong`s Hang Seng went up 1.52%. The Nasdaq Composite Index on the New York Stock Exchange, which closed yesterday at local time, closed at 1720.71, up 57.25 points or 3.44%.

In the meantime, yield on 3-year government bonds rose 0.07% points to close at 4.28% per annum with bond prices down. On the foreign exchange market, the won was appreciated and traded at 1180.2 won against the dollar, down by 1.7 won.

Chan-Sun Hong hcs@donga.com