[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] The Bank of Korea's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) raised the base interest rate by 0.25 percentage points, and the KOSPI continues its solid upward trend.
At 10:27 a.m. on the 26th, the KOSPI stood at 2,632.70, up 0.59% (15.48 points) from the previous trading day. The index started the day at 2,616.99, down 0.01% (0.23 points) from the previous day, but has since expanded its gains.
In the early session, foreigners and individuals bought stocks, but currently, individuals have switched to net selling, while institutions have increased their net purchases. Foreigners and institutions bought stocks worth 48.8 billion KRW and 63.9 billion KRW respectively, while individuals alone sold stocks worth 118.4 billion KRW.
The MPC announced this morning that the base interest rate was raised by 0.25 percentage points to 1.75%. However, the stock market has shown little reaction. Since the U.S. has repeatedly announced plans to raise the base interest rate by 0.5 percentage points due to inflation, the rate hike was already a foregone conclusion. Along with the rate hike, the MPC revised this year's inflation forecast upward from 3.1% to 4.5%. This is the highest level in 14 years (since July 2011), reflecting the prolonged Ukraine war and significant increases in major raw material prices due to supply chain disruptions.
By sector, most showed gains, with banks (1.91%), chemicals (1.45%), and services (1.32%) leading the rise. The banking sector's gains were driven by Jeju Bank (1.5%) and KakaoBank (2.5%), which benefited from the rate hike. Other
top market capitalization stocks mostly showed upward trends. Despite U.S. semiconductor company Nvidia presenting disappointing forecasts, Samsung Electronics traded up 0.3% at 66,600 KRW. However, SK Hynix fell 0.46%. Other gainers included LG Energy Solution (0.82%), Samsung Biologics (1.44%), NAVER (1.88%), Samsung SDI (0.51%), Hyundai Motor (1.09%), LG Chem (1.31%), and Kakao (1.22%).
At the same time, the KOSDAQ index rose 1.11% (9.69 points) to 882.38 compared to the previous trading day. The index started the day at 876.19, up 0.4% (3.50 points), and is showing gains above 1%. While foreigners sold stocks worth 80.5 billion KRW alone, individuals and institutions bought stocks worth 34.8 billion KRW and 50.1 billion KRW respectively.
Among the top market capitalization stocks, Celltrion Healthcare (0.67%), Kakao Games (0.83%), Pearl Abyss (0.63%), and Celltrion Pharm (0.25%) rose, while L&F (-0.12%), HLB (-0.92%), WeMade (-0.49%), and Rino Industrial (-1.13%) declined.
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