KOSDAQ Rebounds

Domestic stock markets rebounded yesterday, making up for the precipitous market plunge the day before.

Thanks largely to foreign investors, the KOSPI index rose 29.40 points yesterday, closing at 1,326.83.

The KOSDAQ index also rebounded after a 64-point drop yesterday and closed 16.85 points (2.80 percent) higher at 618.18.

The KOSDAQ market closed on the rise, but its recovery is still uncertain. The index fell 30 points and hit a day-low 571.82 points in the morning, but rose sharply as trading came to a close. The difference between the day’s lowest and the highest points was 45 points.

Around 10:49 a.m., the price of the KOSDAQ Star Index futures shot up six percent and stayed there for more than one minute, triggering a fail-safe that froze all program trading. It was only six days after a prior triggering, but last Wednesday’s was due to a sharp decline in prices, while yesterday’s was due to a sharp rise.

Meanwhile, the exchange rate fell two days in a row with yesterday’s 5.8 won drop against the dollar, closing the day at 975.5 won.

Wan-Bae Lee Kyung-Joon Chung roryrery@donga.com news91@donga.com