A Historic Start to the New Year... KOSPI Closes at 2944

Rally Led by Large Caps... 9 of Top 10 Market Cap Stocks Close Higher
KOSDAQ Also Up... Surpasses 977, Highest in 20 Years

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] The stock market closed the first trading day of the new year with record-breaking results. The KOSPI, where 9 out of the top 10 market capitalization stocks all closed higher, entered the 2940 level for the first time ever, while the KOSDAQ also surpassed 977, aiming to break through 1000.

On the 4th, the KOSPI closed at 2944.45, up 2.47% (70.98 points) from the previous trading day. After opening slightly higher at 2874.50, it surpassed 2900 for the first time at 10:47 AM and reached an all-time high of 2946.54 around 12:48 PM.

In the KOSPI market, individuals net bought 1.0311 trillion KRW, and foreigners net bought 89.6 billion KRW. Despite institutions net selling 1.1882 trillion KRW, the combined buying power of individuals and foreigners drove the index upward.

Most sectors rose. The order was transportation equipment (6.87%), non-metallic minerals (6.19%), chemicals (4.56%), transportation and warehousing (4.28%), and electrical and electronics (3.31%). Banks (-2.46%), insurance (-1.96%), and electric and gas utilities (-1.25%) declined.

Most of the top 10 market capitalization stocks rose. Hyundai Mobis showed the largest increase at 12.3%, followed by Hyundai Motor (8.0%), LG Chem (7.8%), Samsung SDI (6.8%), SK Hynix (6.3%), Samsung Electronics (2.4%), Kakao (1.6%), Samsung Biologics (0.3%), and NAVER (0.1%). Celltrion was the only stock to fall, down 3.2%.

The KOSDAQ also set record highs. It closed at 977.62, up 0.95% (9.20 points) from the previous day, marking the highest level in 20 years since September 15, 2000, when it was 992.50.

Individual investors were prominent buyers in the KOSDAQ market as well, net buying 377.2 billion KRW, while foreigners and institutions net sold 80.3 billion KRW and 269.1 billion KRW, respectively.

Many sectors in the KOSDAQ also rose. General electrical and electronics (3.81%), paper and wood (3.55%), other services (3.35%), IT components (2.90%), telecommunications services (2.52%), and transportation equipment and parts (2.51%) all outperformed the index. In contrast, distribution (-4.81%), pharmaceuticals (-0.83%), and entertainment and culture (-0.37%) declined.

However, among the top 10 market capitalization stocks, many sectors fell. Celltrion Pharm’s decline was the largest at -8.5%, followed by Celltrion Healthcare (-7.1%), Seegene (-4.7%), Alteogen (-4.0%), Pearl Abyss (-3.1%), and SK Materials (-0.6%). On the other hand, EcoPro BM rose 10.0%. KMH and HL Biotech also increased by 1.3% and 0.8%, respectively. Kakao Games remained flat.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.