[Good Morning Stock Market] KOSPI Hits All-Time High at Closing... Surpassing Intraday Peak as Well

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji-hwan Park] The KOSPI set a new all-time high after about 20 days. On the 10th, the KOSPI closed at 3,249.30, up 52.10 points (1.63%) from the previous trading day, surpassing the record of 3,220.70 set on the 20th of last month. As the KOSPI exceeded its previous high after about 20 days, attention is focused on whether it can consecutively break the intraday high of 3,266.23 recorded on January 11.

◆ Ji-young Han, Kiwoom Securities Researcher= The Korean stock market is expected to face downward pressure as it enters the influence of a sharp decline in U.S. tech stocks amid short-term burden following the previous day's record high. Since inflation concerns persist domestically as well, selling pressure around high-valuation growth stocks is expected to be a factor that increases overall market volatility during the trading session.

As seen in the U.S. stock market on the previous trading day, whether a rotation trade focusing on cyclical stocks with continued earnings improvement prospects will persist is also considered a key market focus today. Although the shock from the sharp decline in U.S. tech stocks is inevitable, it is also necessary to pay attention to the possibility of bargain hunting inflows into domestic semiconductor, automobile, and secondary battery sectors, which have growth stock characteristics and have undergone price adjustments since the beginning of the year.

◆ Sang-young Seo, Mirae Asset Securities Researcher= Due to the sharp decline in the ARK Innovation ETF (-5.23%), the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (-4.66%), and the Russell 2000 Index (-2.59%) in the U.S. stock market, there is a high possibility of weakened investor sentiment in the domestic market as well.

However, considering the robustness of the U.S. employment market, the heightened expectations for economic normalization are positive. Additionally, BioNTech, which co-developed the COVID-19 vaccine with Pfizer, announced sales expansion prospects during its earnings conference call, which is favorable. This could raise expectations for expanded COVID-19 vaccine supply to Asian markets, including India, in the future.

Ultimately, the Korean stock market may see some retracement of the previous day's gains. However, rather than a significant decline, it is expected to be limited to some profit-taking, considering Chinese inflation data and remarks from Federal Reserve Board members. In particular, as seen in the U.S. stock market, differentiation between cyclical stocks and growth stocks is expected to continue.

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