Trading volume of main bourse KOSPI hits 4-year high amid bullish run
This photo shows the dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap
Korea's main bourse saw its daily average trading volume reach the highest level in more than four years in October, helped by a recent rally, with semiconductor shares leading the overall increase, data showed Sunday.
The daily average trading volume of the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) market was estimated at 16.6 trillion won ($11.5 billion) as of Friday, marking the highest level since the 16.9 trillion won tallied in June 2021, according to the data compiled by the Korea Exchange, the main bourse operator.
The figure represents a 44 percent rise from the 11.5 trillion won recorded in September, far outperforming a 13.9 percent increase in the tech-heavy secondary KOSDAQ market, the data showed.
The sharp rise in trading volume was led mostly by chipmakers amid growing optimism over the global artificial intelligence (AI) industry and the memory chip market.
The combined daily average trading volume of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix came to 4.59 trillion won, accounting for 28 percent of the total.
On Friday, the combined market capitalization of Samsung Electronics, including its preferred shares, and SK hynix surpassed 1,000 trillion won for the first time.
"Amid the overall robust performance of the stock market, trading volume has been concentrated in a few large-cap shares," Lee Jun-seok, a researcher at Hanyang Securities Co., said.
The daily average turnover ratio, which indicates how frequently stocks are traded, stood at 0.54 percent this month as of Friday, compared with 0.42 percent in September.
Analysts, meanwhile, advised investors to take a wait-and-see approach and refrain from aggressively scooping up additional shares amid uncertainties, including trade negotiations between Seoul and Washington.
"The main bourse has already priced in optimistic factors, including the Federal Reserve's liquidity policy, trade negotiations and the AI industry," Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said, noting that investors need to manage risks.