Cheers for Hitting 1,000-point Mark Again in Five Years

The Korea Stock Price Index surpassed 1,000 points for the first time in five years.

The Korean Composite Stock Price Index on Monday rose 14.41 points, or 1.45 percent, from last Friday to close at 1,011.36.

It is the first time in five years and two months, since January 4, 2000 (1059.04), for the index to hit the 1,000-point mark at its closing price.

This is the fourth time the stock market reached 1,000 points, following March 1989, September 1994, and July 1999.

The index once climbed to 1,000.26 points during the trading day on Friday last week, only to close at 996.95, failing to hit the 1,000 mark.

The U.S. stock markets saw an increase last week, and the Industrial Activity Trend of January 2005, released by the National Statistical Office, showed the upturn in leading and coincident indexes in 10 months, which all served favorably for the stock markets.

Foreign investors net purchased 285.6 billion won worth of blue chip stocks like Samsung Electronics and Kookmin Bank, thereby leading to the price hike.

Meanwhile, institutional investors and individuals sold 268.7 billion won and 36.4 billion won worth of stocks respectively.

By industries, securities that gained much from the stock price hike showed the highest rise with 8.94 percent, followed by steel (4.17 percent), insurance (3,82 percent), banking (2.6 percent), distribution (2.5 percent), and construction (2.38 percent). On the contrary, the stocks of communications (-1.23 percent) and non-metal minerals (-0.94 percent) fell.

By items, the stock price of Samsung Electronics with the largest market capitalization went up 0.96 percent to close at 527,000 won. The stock prices of Kookmin Bank and Hyundai Motors rose 3.92 percent and 1.76 percent respectively.

Meanwhile, the Kosdaq Composite Index increased 3.51 points, or 0.71 percent, from Friday to finish at 498.38.

“Foreign investors bought large shares of blue chip stocks, thereby sending the stock price up,” said Jeong Tae-wuk, a chief of research center at Hyundai Securities. “Even though there are variables, such as U.S. interest rate rise, international oil prices, and the won-dollar exchange rate, the economy is showing signs of recovery and businesses are turning good profits. So, we are going to see strong stock markets with the index surpassing 1,000 points.”

Jin-Hup Song Ji-Wan Cha jinhup@donga.com cha@donga.com