Booming Seoul Bourse
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or KOSPI, closed higher and bounced back to the 2,530 level on November 16. The secondary KOSDAQ index renewed its yearly high for the fourth consecutive day and surpassed the 780 level for the first time in two years and four months after July 2015. The KOSPI closed at 2,534.79 on the 16th, up 16.54 points or 0.66 percent, from 2,518.25 on the previous trading day.
The KOSPI index, which recently closed down for five trading days in a row, fell for a while right after opening higher but immediately bounced back to the 2,538 level right before the closing on the day. This is because the U.S. stock closed down on the previous day due to the forecasts that the Trump administration will have difficulties in cutting corporate taxes and the fall in international oil prices. However, the rise in the KOSPI was driven by strong net purchasing by foreign investors.
Individual and institutional investors net sold 80.3 billion won (US$73.39 million) and 221.9 billion won (US$202.8 million) worth of stocks, respectively, on the 16th, while foreign investors net bought 287.7 billion won (US$262.98 million) worth of stocks.
In addition, the growth of the KOSDAQ index is notable. The KOSDAQ closed at 780.22 on the same day, up 12.19 points, or 1.9 percent, from the previous day. The KOSDAQ dropped during the intraday trading owing to fatigue caused by days of the increases and institutional investors’ selling spree, but succeeded in rallying with the increase in buying low-priced stocks.
The KOSDAQ index closed at above the 780 level for the first time in two years and four months after July 21, 2015. The domestic market showed a rising tendency based on KOSDAQ small and mid-size stocks regardless of the U.S. market declines.