On the 26th, the KOSDAQ index soared more than 7%, hitting a record high since the 1999 "dot-com bubble." With the government emphasizing revitalization of the stock market, analysis that KOSPI 5,000 points will be achieved early and policy focus will concentrate on the KOSDAQ market drew a surge of investment funds into KOSDAQ.
That day, the KOSDAQ index jumped 70.48 points (7.09%) from the previous trading day to finish at 1,064.41. It is the first time since 2000, when the "dot-com bubble" began to burst, that the KOSDAQ has broken through the 1,060 level.
Fueled by the IT boom that began in 1999, the KOSDAQ index exceeded 2,925 points in Mar. 2000, setting an all-time record high, but as the dot-com bubble collapsed at the end of that year, 1,000 points broke down. Since then, the KOSDAQ has occasionally topped 1,000, but it has not settled stably at the 1,000 level.
That day, transaction value on the KOSDAQ market exceeded 25 trillion won, approaching double the usual level, and it surpassed the main bourse's transaction value (22 trillion won). As KOSDAQ futures prices spiked early in the session, a buy sidecar was triggered.
In the KOSDAQ market alone, foreigners were net buyers of more than 400 billion won, and institutions were net buyers by 2.6 trillion won. Most institutional funds went into exchange-traded funds (ETF) bought by individuals, totaling more than 2 trillion won. National pension funds also recorded net purchases of 150 billion won. Recently, the KOSPI reached the government's target of 5,000 points, and after the ruling camp emphasized revitalizing KOSDAQ, investment funds were observed shifting from the main bourse to KOSDAQ.
Commissioners of the Democratic Party of Korea's "KOSPI 5000 Special Committee" reportedly proposed KOSDAQ 3,000 points as the next goal during a recent luncheon with President Lee Jae-myung. Earlier, the Financial Services Commission announced plans to swiftly delist insolvent companies and to promote initial public offerings (IPO) for promising technology corporations such as artificial intelligence (AI), space, and energy, in order to boost confidence and spur innovation in the KOSDAQ market.
Lee Jae-won, a researcher at Shinhan Investment & Securities, said, "As the relative return gap of the KOSDAQ index versus the KOSPI index has widened recently, liquidity has concentrated sharply in KOSDAQ despite a lack of clear momentum," and explained, "With the activation of security token offerings (STO) and a won stablecoin emerging as new growth drivers for KOSDAQ, robot and battery-related sectors strengthened on expectations for growth in the robotics industry."
Rainbow Robotics, the KOSDAQ market's leading robotics stock, surged, and EcoPro and EcoPro BM also rose around 20%.
While the KOSDAQ index was soaring, the KOSPI index ended lower. That day, the KOSPI fell 40.48 points (0.81%) to close at 4,949.59. The KOSPI tried to settle above 5,000 points early in the session, but as foreigners turned net sellers and individual funds moved to KOSDAQ, the index failed to rebound and closed down.