Stock Market Loses 162 Trillion Won in Two Months This Year... Impact of Tightening Concerns and Ukraine Crisis

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] The domestic stock market is showing weakness as global inflation, concerns over the U.S. Federal Reserve's (Fed) tightening, and the Ukraine crisis overlap. Over the past two months this year, the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices have fallen more than 10%, resulting in a combined market capitalization loss exceeding 162 trillion won.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 27th, the KOSPI closed at 2,676.76 on the 25th. This is a 10.1% (300.89 points) drop from 2,977.65 at the end of last year. The market capitalization currently stands at 2,103.9633 trillion won, a 4.5% (99.0432 trillion won) decrease over two months.

The KOSDAQ index decline rate is even greater. The KOSDAQ index, which closed at 1,033.98 at the end of last year, fell 15.6% (161.00 points) to 872.98. The market capitalization, which exceeded 440 trillion won at the end of last year, is now 383.2338 trillion won, down 14% (63.0632 trillion won). The combined market capitalization decrease of the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets over two months amounts to 162.4664 trillion won.

Large-cap stocks have fallen one after another due to weakened investor sentiment. Samsung Electronics, ranked first in KOSPI market capitalization, closed at 71,900 won on the 25th, down 8.2% from the end of last year. SK Hynix, ranked second, fell 6.1%, while Hyundai Motor and Kia dropped 16.7% and 10.2%, respectively.

Naver's stock price fell 16.9% over two months, and Kakao also dropped 16.1%. Additionally, top 10 KOSPI market cap stocks such as Samsung Biologics (-14.8%), Samsung SDI (-17.7%), and LG Chem (-9.9%) also declined consecutively.

In the KOSDAQ market, the leading stock Celltrion Healthcare fell 22.2% over two months, while second-ranked EcoPro BM dropped 28.1%. Third-ranked Pearl Abyss's stock price fell 31.5% during the same period, fourth-ranked L&F declined 14.1%, and fifth-ranked Kakao Games dropped 20.3%.

Investor sentiment also appears to have weakened. The average daily trading value on the KOSPI decreased by 28.2%, from the 15 trillion won range last year to the 11 trillion won range this year, while the KOSDAQ market fell 27.3%, from the 11 trillion won range to the 8 trillion won range.

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