Last year, the Korean stock market, which recorded the lowest return among major global indices, is seeing high revenue so far this year.
According to financial information site Yonhap Infomax on the 19th, from the 2nd to the 17th of this month, the KOSDAQ index recorded a revenue of 6.86%, while the KOSPI recorded a revenue of 5.17%.
During the same period, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, centered on blue-chip stocks, recorded a revenue of 2.22%. The S&P 500 index, dominated by large-cap stocks, recorded a revenue of 1.96%, and the Nasdaq index, focusing on technology stocks, recorded a revenue of 1.65%.
The revenue of India's Nifty 50 index was minus (-) 1.87%. The Hong Kong Hang Seng index was down 2.37%, while China's Shanghai Composite index gained 3.28%. Japan's Nikkei index also fell by 3.65%.
This situation is a stark contrast to last year, when the domestic stock market recorded a decline while global stock markets were rising. Foreign investors, who provided the catalyst for the domestic market's weakness last year with a selling spree, have turned around this year, net buying 823.8 billion won in the securities market (KOSPI) and contributing to the rise in stock prices.
Pension funds, which had reduced their domestic stock holdings below targets during the bearish market, also joined the buying spree, net purchasing 140 billion won, and individual investors bought 513.9 billion won worth.
However, the atmosphere has not yet reached a confidence that this increase in the domestic stock market is a trend and not just a temporary rebound. This is because the transaction volume, which had shrunk during the bearish market, has still not recovered.
According to the Korea Exchange, the average daily transaction amount for January this year was 9.1735 trillion won. Although this is slightly higher than December's 8.7353 trillion won, it has not regained the levels of October (9.7068 trillion won) and November (9.9214 trillion won).
Considering that the average daily transaction amount of the KOSPI ranged from 10 to 13 trillion won from February to September last year, it is difficult to view the current transaction amount as entering a recovery phase.
The turnover rate of listed shares, which indicates the frequency of transactions for listed stocks, has not changed significantly from last year's year-end level. So far this year, the turnover rate over 11 trading days is 0.72, lower than December's (0.78%) and November's (0.76%).
The turnover rate of listed shares is calculated by dividing the transaction volume over a certain period by the number of listed shares. A high turnover rate indicates that investors' interest led to active trading, while a low turnover rate signifies sluggish trading.