By Kim Da-ye
The stock market had a volatile day as Seoul held an artillery exercise on Yeonpyeong Island and North Korea threatened to strike back.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed 2,020.28 Monday, 6.02 points or 0.3 percent down from Friday. The stocks started 18.16 points down at 2,008.14 and dipped below the 2,000 mark to 1,996.44 during trading hours.
The KOSPI repeatedly wavered around the psychologically important mark until one p.m. The drill began at around 2:30 p.m. with the South Korean navy firing near the western sea border.
The value of Korean won rose 2.7 won to 1,150.2 won to the U.S. dollar.
The margin by which stocks dropped is small, considering that the KOSPI rose Friday to this year’s record high of 2,026.30.
Foreigners and institutional investors kept buying stocks while speculative individuals sold.
Monday’s stock market performance was accepted positively by analysts. “This proves that there remains extra power for the market to go up,” Hong Soon-pyo, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said. “I should mention the learning effect. The risk from North Korea may be a long term, but it always ends up as a temporary event on the stock market.”
But Hong said that does not mean the market does not take the North Korean factors serious. “After North Korea’s artillery attacks on Yeonpyeong Island, the North Korea risk reappeared today. In the past, it was a problem between North Korea and South Korea, but now other countries are involved. Considering that, South Korea’s position isn’t simple,” Hong said.
Foreigners and institutional investors preferred firms with large market caps. Samsung Electronics’ stocks rose 6,000 won to 932,000 won; NHN by 6,500 won to 210,000 won; and Hyundai Motor by 2,500 won to 180,500 won.
The performance of the stock market also boosted the stocks of brokerages. Samsung Securities gained 2,400 won to close at 84,500 won, while Daewoo Securities was up 400 won at 27,400 won.