KOSPI inches toward 4,000-point recovery, won gains for 3 straight days

An electronic trading board at Hana Bank headquarters in central Seoul shows the benchmark KOSPI closing at 3,986.91 points, Thursday, up 0.66 percent from the previous session. Yonhap

The benchmark KOSPI rose for the third straight day on Thursday but fell short of reclaiming the 4,000-point threshold at the close, ending at 3,986.91 points.

The index opened at 3,989.45 points, up 0.72 percent from the previous day. It surpassed 4,000 points shortly afterward for the first time since Nov. 20 and reached a peak of 4,023.42 points during the intraday session.

However, it could not sustain the gains and ultimately closed below 4,000.

The intraday rally was supported by strong overnight gains on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all recorded their fourth consecutive daily increases.

KOSPI’s momentum slowed, however, as the Bank of Korea (BOK) hinted at a possible shift in its rate-cut policy.

Earlier Thursday, the BOK’s Monetary Policy Board kept the benchmark interest rate steady at 2.5 percent for the fourth consecutive time.

In a statement following the decision, the BOK changed its language from “we will continue the rate cutting stance” to “we will keep the possibility of rate cuts open,” signaling a more neutral tone.

“Such a shift in monetary policy could lead to higher market interest rates and may dampen the KOSPI’s momentum toward 5,000 points,” Hwang Seung-taek, head of research at Hana Securities, said.

He noted that the government has been encouraging the KOSPI to reach the unprecedented 5,000-point level by steering real estate-related investments toward the stock market, with interest rates playing a key role.

Foreign investors posted net purchases of more than 149 billion won ($101.7 million), while institutional investors bought over 434 billion won.

Retail investors were net sellers, offloading more than 610 billion won.

Among major stocks, Samsung Electronics rose 0.68 percent to 103,500 won, while SK hynix soared 3.82 percent to 544,000 won.

Other notable gains included LG Energy Solution at 0.57 percent, Kia at 0.71 percent, Hyundai Mobis at 2.18 percent and Hana Financial at 0.43 percent.

On the other hand, some major stocks posted losses, including Naver's 4.55 percent retreat and Samsung Biologics conceding 0.3 percent.

The secondary bourse Kosdaq gained 0.31 percent to finish at 880.06 points.

On the foreign exchange market, the Korean currency gained for the third straight day to close at 1,464.9 won per dollar during daytime trading, Thursday.

It hit the seven-month low of 1,477.1 won per dollar, Monday, but recovered to 1,472.4 won, Tuesday and 1,465.6 won, Wednesday.