OECD Raises South Korea's Growth Rate to 3.8%... KOSPI Rises in Early Trading Session

KOSDAQ Started Higher but... Turned Down

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has revised South Korea's economic growth rate for this year upward from 3.3% to 3.8%, based on the expansion of vaccine inoculation and the effects of stimulus measures in major countries. As a result, the KOSPI also showed an upward trend.

On the 1st, the KOSPI opened the session at 3,207.12, up 0.10% (3.20 points) from the previous trading day. It even rose to 3,233.17 at 10:17 a.m. that day.

The upward revision of South Korea's economic growth rate appears to have acted as a positive factor. Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, explained, "The background for the OECD's upward revision of the economic growth rate is the expectation that the global economic recovery will strengthen due to the expansion of vaccine inoculation and the effects of stimulus measures in major countries," adding, "Except for some countries such as France and Japan, most countries' growth forecasts have been revised upward."

In fact, South Korea's vaccine inoculation speed is relatively fast. According to the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team (Promotion Team) on the 31st of last month, since the start of vaccinations on February 26, the cumulative number of first-dose recipients is 5,403,854. This accounts for about 10.5% of the total population. The Promotion Team emphasized, "The vaccination rate for those aged 80 and over is 60%, strengthening protection for the most vulnerable to COVID-19."

Institutional buying was strong. On that day, institutions net purchased 469.3 billion KRW. Individuals and foreigners net sold 462.1 billion KRW and 19.4 billion KRW, respectively.

Most sectors rose. The telecommunications sector had the largest increase at 1.77%. This was followed by distribution (1.75%), textiles and apparel (1.41%), transportation equipment (1.19%), and chemicals (1.09%). Transportation and warehousing (-0.39%), medical precision (-0.30%), and construction (-0.22%) declined.

All of the top 10 market capitalization stocks except Celltrion rose. Kakao had the largest increase at 2.03%, followed by NAVER (1.52%), SK Hynix (1.18%), LG Chem (0.98%), Samsung Biologics (0.95%), Samsung Electronics (0.75%), Hyundai Motor (0.64%), Samsung SDI (0.33%), and Kia (0.23%). Celltrion remained flat.

On the same day, the KOSDAQ opened at 982.25, up 0.05% (0.47 points) from the previous trading day. However, it turned downward after 10:30 a.m. As of 10:33 a.m., it was down 0.07% from the previous day at 981.07.

Individual buying led to the index's rise. Individuals net purchased 98.5 billion KRW that day. Foreigners and institutions sold 38.7 billion KRW and 47.2 billion KRW, respectively.

Almost all sectors showed strength. Publishing and media reproduction had the largest increase at 1.65%, followed by transportation equipment and parts (1.11%), finance (1.08%), food and tobacco (0.84%), and semiconductors (0.79%). Pharmaceuticals (-0.74%), entertainment and culture (-0.70%), internet (-0.63%), telecommunications equipment (-0.57%), and paper and wood (-0.36%) declined.

Many of the top 10 market capitalization stocks showed strength. HL B's increase was the largest at 2.33%, followed by Kakao Games (0.57%), SK Materials (0.56%), EcoPro BM (0.23%), Seegene (0.15%), and CJ ENM (0.12%). Alteogen (-3.29%), Pearl Abyss (-0.66%), Celltrion Healthcare (-0.58%), and Celltrion Pharm (-0.50%) declined.

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