October is when major countries, including Korea, see stock markets close one after another. It is time for individual investors who invest in domestic and overseas stocks to adjust their strategies.
Korea has a long Chuseok holiday including National Foundation Day, and China has the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays. The United States marks "Columbus Day" (Columbus Day, settlements only closed), and the Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore markets also take turns closing for public holidays. It is rare for global markets to take a breather at the same time.
During periods crowded with market closures, investors tend to stay on the sidelines, stock trading volume declines, and market directionality tends to become temporarily unclear. At such times, investors often choose trading strategies centered on stable large-cap stocks.
In particular, as the wait-and-see mood tends to lengthen before and after holidays and there is a high chance of profit-taking supply emerging, it is necessary to check each country's public holidays and review one's investment picks.
China is the country where the stock market takes the most breaks in October. China closes for a total of six days for National Day from the 1st to the 8th. On the 29th of this month, the mainland China market opens as usual, but the Hong Kong market closes for the Chung Yeung Festival, making trading in Shanghai A and Shenzhen A shares impossible.
On the 13th, the Japan and Canada markets close at the same time. Japan marks "Health-sports Day," and Canada observes Thanksgiving.
On the same day, the United States, which observes Columbus Day, closes only the settlements market, and stock trading proceeds as normal. Normally, when you place buy and sell orders, deposits and withdrawals are made two business days later, but this is delayed by a day, meaning the settlement date becomes three business days later. Investors should be careful to avoid confusion in cash management after stock trades.
On the 20th of this month, Singapore closes to mark Deepavali, a Hindu festival.
In the securities industry, some advised that when global markets close simultaneously, responses can be delayed if unexpected issues arise, so in the short term it may be advantageous to increase cash holdings or to rebalance toward high-quality, low-risk stocks.
Over the past week (Sept. 26–Oct. 1), foreign investors bought the most of Samsung Electronics, the top large-cap by market capitalization in the domestic stock market, which can be understood in this context. During this period, foreigners recorded a net purchase of 854.3 billion won in Samsung Electronics. They also net bought 150.4 billion won of the preferred shares, Samsung Electronics (preferred).
It is also necessary to check whether the market you are investing in is closed around the release of major U.S. economic indicators that have a significant impact on global markets. The United States releases nonfarm payrolls and the ISM services purchasing managers index (PMI) on the 3rd in Korea time, the August trade balance on the 7th, Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes on the 9th, and the consumer price index (CPI) on the 15th. The producer price index (PPI) and September retail sales index are scheduled for the 16th, and the October FOMC announcement is set for the 30th.
An analyst at a securities firm said, "On days when markets take a break, it is difficult to respond immediately to issues such as indicator releases, so risk-off and cautionary sentiment usually prevails," and added, "It is important to check holiday schedules in advance and adjust asset management strategies."