Foreign buying spree drives KOSPI's rally

A large monitor located in the lobby of the Korea Exchange (KRX) building on Yeoudio, Seoul, shows Monday's closing levels for the KOSPI and KOSDAQ. / Courtesy of KRX

By Anna J. Park

The KOSPI continued its rally Monday, reaching an all-time high of 2,602.59 points at the close of trading, up 1.92 percent from the previous day's session. The index's market capitalization also reached an all-time high of 1,787 trillion won ($1,608 billion). The tech-heavy KOSDAQ also rose 0.36 percent, to close at 873.29 points.

Although the KOSPI topped the 2,600 mark in January 2018 during intra-day trading, this is the first time in its 45 year history to reach such a milestone ― the previous record-high close was 2,598.19 on Jan. 29, 2018.

Earlier this month, the KOSPI remained around the 2,280 mark, but then began a continuous rise ― by about 15 percent so far. Market watchers say that strong buying from foreign investors, based on a weak dollar and expectations of Korean companies continuing to solidly perform during the COVID-19 pandemic, has stoked the index to its all-time high.

On Monday alone, foreign investors net purchased stocks worth 983 billion won ― having turned to net-buying through November of six trillion won worth of shares to date ― as retail investors net sold 873 billion won.

Representative blue-chips, including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, led Monday's performance with a daily increase of 4.33 percent and 3.31 percent, respectively. Thanks to the bullish moves, Samsung Electronics' market cap reached 402.9 trillion won ($362 billion) as of the close of trading. Other large market-caps, such as LG Chem, Naver, Celltrion and Hyundai Motor, also logged upward moves of 3.31 percent, 0.18 percent, 1.52 percent and 1.13 percent.

Research centers at local brokerage firms expect the stock market to continue its rally into next year, based on the rosy outlook that the Korean economy ― particularly the IT, materials and components, and finance sectors ― will recover, yielding sound profits. Their highest projection of the index ranges as far as 3,000 points.

The nation's bourse operator, the Korea Exchange (KRX), explained that various factors made Monday's record-setting move possible.

"Resolved uncertainties from the U.S. presidential election, the positive outlook on a global economic recovery, the U.S. Federal Reserve maintaining its monetary easing policy, as well as COVID-19 vaccine developments, contributed to investors' preference for global risky assets," the KRX explained.

The government's stable management of the pandemic situation here and the undervaluation of Korean companies' shares compared to major countries' economies also played a part in the ongoing stock rally, the KRX added.

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