Drops about 22% in One Year
This year's KOSPI report card is in the bottom of the G20, excluding Russia at war.
KOSPI dropped by about 22 percent from 2,988.77 points on Jan. 3, the first trading day of 2022, to 2,333.29 points on Dec. 20 of 2022, according to the Korea Exchange. Among G20 member countries, Russia (-40 percent) was the only country with a greater decline than that of Korea.
Stock markets fell in 14 of the G20 member countries, but declines in 12 countries, excluding Korea and Russia, did not exceed 20 percent. The U.S. Dow fell 10 percent and Japan’s Nikkei 9 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 19 percent despite China’s draconian zero-COVID policies.
Among the G20 member countries, Turkey enjoyed the largest spike in stock indices. The BIST 100 index rose 181.26 percent. Bloomberg attributed the rise to interest rate cuts by Turkish financial authorities to stimulate the economy. Argentina’s MERVAL index took second place with a 101 percent surge, and India’s SENSEX index came third with a 4 percent gain.
Analysts say the KOSPI market was sluggish this year because of the slumping semiconductor market. The combined market capitalization of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix accounted for 22 percent of the total value of all KOSPI companies as of Dec. 20. The two chipmakers’ stock prices fell 25 percent and 40 percent, respectively, this year.