Domestic Stock Market's Early Year Performance Ranks Low Among G20

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] The performance of the domestic stock market at the beginning of the year has been among the lower ranks within the Group of Twenty (G20) countries.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 20th, the KOSPI has fallen for five consecutive trading days recently, hitting its lowest point of the year. It has dropped 4.55% so far this year until the previous day. This performance ranks fourth lowest among G20 countries, following Russia, the United States, and Japan.

Since the beginning of the year, the Russian stock market has fallen the most sharply by 11.35%. The geopolitical risks heightened due to the conflict with Ukraine caused a relatively large decline. The United States, where concerns about early tightening such as interest rate hikes have emerged, followed. The S&P 500 index has dropped 4.9% this year. Japan fell 4.6%, and China decreased by 2.24%. On the other hand, Turkey (9.93%), Saudi Arabia (8.67%), India (3.17%), and Brazil (3.04%) showed strong performance.

The global stock market correction phase is expected to continue for the time being. Yu Seungmin, a researcher at Samsung Securities, said, "As the normalization of economic activities in each country is delayed due to the impact of Omicron, market conditions have worsened more than previously expected due to high inflation levels and the Federal Reserve's hawkish shift to control it," adding, "In the short term, there is a high possibility of further corrections in global stock markets, including the U.S." However, Yu predicted that the global stock market's bull market has not yet ended in the mid to long term. He said, "Considering the historical pattern that the Fed responds sensitively to stock market declines, if the market correction deepens in the future, the policy focus will shift," adding, "Therefore, the point when the Fed shifts its attention from inflation control to financial market instability will be a 'buy the dip' opportunity."

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