Stock Market and Cryptocurrency Both Surge Unstoppably... Will the Uptrend Continue?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Koh Hyung-kwang] The KOSPI surged to the 3,150 level just one day after surpassing 3,000. It has risen nearly 20% in the past month. The price of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin has also exceeded 46 million won. As asset markets continue to rise relentlessly, concerns about 'overheating' are growing.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 9th, the KOSPI closed at 3,152.18, up 3.97% from the previous trading day. This is the second-largest increase since March 24 of last year (127.51 points) based on the closing price. During the session, the KOSPI even soared to 3,161.11, up 129.43 points.

The strong performance of large-cap stocks was behind the KOSPI breaking 3,000 points and then surpassing 3,150 in just one day. Samsung Electronics surged 7.1% on the back of strong earnings, while Hyundai Motor jumped a remarkable 19.4% on news of collaboration with Apple. Naver, the leader in non-face-to-face sectors, also rose 7.8% after a long time.

The return of foreign investors, who had been busy taking profits, also drove the stock price increase. Foreigners net purchased 1.6479 trillion won that day, marking the third-largest amount ever. On the other hand, individual investors continued to realize profits, net selling stocks worth 559.1 billion won the previous day after selling 1.1836 trillion won on the 7th.

Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, also continued its upward trend after surpassing 40 million won per coin, breaking through 46 million won. According to the domestic virtual asset trading site Bithumb, as of 2:40 p.m. that day, the price of 1 Bitcoin (BTC) was traded at 46.44 million won.

The rise in Bitcoin is attributed to the weakening of the dollar and the growing perception of cryptocurrencies as alternative safe assets, as well as the increasing trend of integrating into the institutional framework. Recently, institutional investors have also participated in cryptocurrency investments, making the value increase more pronounced.

However, concerns are growing as asset markets have surged too rapidly in a short period. The KOSPI has risen more than 300 points in a month, and it rose more than 120 points in a single day, showing signs of short-term overheating. Especially, since the real economy that should support the stock price rise remains sluggish, debates about a stock price bubble are spreading further.

Lee Kyung-min, a researcher at Daishin Securities, said, "The short-term overheating burden caused by the rapid rise since the end of last year has accumulated fatigue for continuous increases," adding, "The global economic recovery is also somewhat slowing down, so if the fundamental recovery falls short of market expectations, a backlash against excessive optimism is inevitable."

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