Inching Up
The market capitalization of the top 10 business groups, which have the highest total asset amounts, grew nearly 3 percent this year.
This is largely because of the recent upward trend of the KOSPI index. GS saw the highest growth, followed by the top seven groups including Hyundai Heavy Industries, LG, and Samsung. On the other hand, three groups, including SK, saw declines.
According to the Korea Exchange, the market capitalization of the top 10 companies increased by 2.95 percent from the previous year, along with the recent upward trend of the KOSPI Index.
The GS Group showed the highest increase range with 7.4 percent, followed by Hyundai Heavy Industries with 7.4 percent, LG with 5.5 percent, Samsung with 5.22 percent, Lotte with 1.56 percent, Hanwha with 1.18 percent, and Hanjin with 1.09 percent.
On the contrary, the market capitalization of SK decreased by 2.34 percent compared to the end of last year, while the figures of POSCO and Hyundai Motor dropped 1.74 percent and 0.37 percent, respectively.
The total market capitalization of the KOSPI index and the KOSPI market grew 3.41 percent and 3.47 percent, respectively, compared to the end of last year. The ratio of the total market capitalization to the top 10 companies’ market capitalization is 60 percent, which is at a similar level to the figure of 60.3 percent at the end of last year.
Among the top 10 companies, preferred stocks of Hyundai BNG Steel saw the highest increase of 42.62 percent, which is the stock item showing the highest growth in prices compared to the end of last year. Samsung Electro-Mechanics at 41.5 percent, SK Networks preferred stocks at 40.34 percent, Hanwha Chemical at 34.32 percent, and GS E&C at 33.12 percent ranked high in the rate of the rise in stock prices.
On the other hand, the stock prices of Hanwha Galleria Timeworld, a subsidiary of Hanwha Group, dropped 28.74 percent compared to last year. Samsung Card, Hyundai Glovis, and Samsung Life Insurance also ranked high in the rate of decrease in stock prices.