KOSPI soars to record-high

By Yoon Ja-young

The country’s stock market continued its bullish move Monday, closing at a record high on massive purchasing by institutional investors.

The benchmark KOPSI closed at 2,425.10, up 10.47 points, or 0.43 percent, from the previous trading day.

The KOSPI started trading at 2,427.76 points, and continued rising to briefly touch 2,430.34 points. Its closing price marked a record high for the third consecutive trading day.

The junior tech-heavy KOSDAQ also gained 0.88 percent to close at 659.89.

While foreign investors and small investors sold shares worth 38.7 billion won and 112.5 billion won, respectively, institutional investors sustained the bourse by recording net purchases of 110.4 billion won.

Analysts explained that the rise in New York on expectations of a dovish decision by the Fed worked positively on the Seoul bourse as well.

Samsung Electronics closed at 2.53 million won, rising 0.32 percent. It once soared to 2.55 million won during trading, marking a record high. Samsung Group shares had been falling following a Cheong Wa Dae report that documents have been found showing the former administration’s interest in its succession process. However, most Samsung Group shares rebounded Monday.

SK Hynix rose 0.14 percent to close at 71,200 won. Hyundai Motor, whose union is planning a strike, fell 2.27 percent.

Hana Financial Investment analyst Kim Yong-gu said the second-quarter earnings season that starts this week will likely positively affect the bourse.

“The performances of Korean companies for the second quarter are mostly favorable,” he said. “Positive achievements by big exporters, especially IT companies, as well as a turnaround in domestic stocks such as banks, brokerages and pharmaceutical companies are behind this.”

The market consensus on operating profits of KOSPI-listed companies for the second quarter stands at 45 trillion won, which is a steep rise from 43.1 trillion won around the end of the first quarter.