'The Last Chapter of the Year' KOSPI and KOSDAQ Close at Record Highs

KOSPI Nears 2880... Sets New All-Time High
Samsung Electronics Rises 3.5%, Closes at 81,000 Won

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Ahead of the market holiday on the 31st, the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices closed the final trading day of the year at all-time highs and year-to-date highs.

On the 30th, the last trading day of this year's stock market, dealers are working in the dealing room of Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

On the 30th, the KOSPI closed at 2,873.47, up 1.88% (52.96 points) from the previous day. The KOSPI started the day slightly down by 0.01% (0.15 points) at 2,820.36, showing weakness initially, but foreign investors and institutions switched to net buying, continuing the upward trend. The index surpassed the previous record high of 2,834.59 set on the 28th, maintaining its all-time high streak.

The driving force behind the index rise was foreign investors and institutions. On that day in the KOSPI market, foreign investors purchased stocks worth 244.7 billion KRW, and institutions also net bought stocks worth 196.8 billion KRW. Individual investors, however, sold stocks worth 492 billion KRW alone.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, Samsung Electronics closed at 81,000 KRW, up 3.45% from the previous day. SK Hynix (2.16%), LG Chem (1.35%), Samsung Biologics (0.49%), Naver (3.36%), and Samsung SDI (4.49%) also rose.

On the same day, the KOSDAQ index closed at 968.42, up 1.15% (11.01 points) from the previous trading day. The KOSDAQ started the day slightly down by 0.00% (0.03 points) at 957.38 but closed higher as individual investors continued net buying. The index surpassed the previous year-to-date high of 957.48 recorded the day before, ending the year at its highest level. The rise in the index was driven by individual investors, who net bought stocks worth 123.4 billion KRW, while institutions and foreign investors sold stocks worth 35.8 billion KRW and 62.2 billion KRW, respectively.

Among the top market capitalization stocks, Celltrion Healthcare and Celltrion Pharm fell by 2.92% and 4.60%, respectively, compared to the previous day. Alteogen (1.41%), HLB (1.20%), SK Materials (0.79%), EcoPro BM (0.65%), and Kakao Games (1.21%) rose.

Kim Hyung-ryeol, Head of Research at Kyobo Securities, explained, "The year-end stock market reflected hopeful factors such as expectations that the spread of COVID-19 could end with the start of vaccination." He added, "Next month, the KOSPI is expected to move between 2,650 and 2,850 points, and the direction of leading sectors that accelerated their rise over the past two months will play an important role in monitoring changes in the financial market."