The KOSPI on the 19th broke above the 4,900 level intraday. It is a milestone Korea's stock market had never reached before. With foreign investors staying on the sidelines, national pension funds are net buyers, driving the index higher.
As of 2 p.m. that day, the KOSPI is trading above 4,900 points. It opened slightly lower, but rebounded early in the session, and its intraday gains are widening. As large-cap semiconductor stocks rise, Hyundai Motor Group shares and robot-related sectors such as Doosan Robotics are surging.
National pension funds are propping up the market rally that day. In the main board, foreign investors are modest net sellers, while national pension funds are net buyers of more than 250 billion won.
The National Pension Service is scheduled to hold this year's first Fund Management Committee meeting on the 26th of this month. The committee, usually held in February or March, is unusually convening in January, drawing investors' attention. The industry expects the meeting to discuss increasing the allocation to domestic stocks and measures to respond to the steep won weakness.
Expectations that long-term oriented national pension funds will flow into the domestic stock market are fueling the index's rise. Except for a few names such as Samsung Biologics and SK Square, most large-cap stocks by market capitalization are advancing.
Hyundai Motor and Kia, in particular, are jumping. Hyundai Motor's market capitalization topped 95 trillion won intraday, overtaking LG Energy Solution to rank third by market cap. Lee Jae-won, an analyst at Shinhan Investment & Securities, said, "As earnings estimates for listed companies are being revised upward, the re-rating of large caps and the rise in share prices are continuing."
The KOSDAQ is also extending gains. It too opened weaker that day, rebounded early, and is up more than 1% in the afternoon. While bellwether Alteogen is falling, secondary battery and Robotics sectors are both rising.