Stock markets rise amid January upbeat sentiment, KOSDAQ policy: KRX

SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's stock markets have risen dramatically this month amid the "January effect" of upbeat sentiment among investors for the new year buttressed by the government's pledges to nurture startups, the Korea Exchange (KRX) said Tuesday.

The tech-heavy secondary KOSDAQ market shot up 16.1 percent to 927.05 Monday from the end of last year.

The figure is the largest gain since January 2005, when the KOSDAQ market soared 24.4 percent on-month.

The record growth rate for January was 60.4 percent in the first month of 2001, when the country's dot-com bubble peaked.

Since 1997, when the KOSDAQ market opened, the secondary market underwent 14 gains and seven falls in January.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) also moved up a solid 5.3 percent to 2,598.19 on Monday from the end of last year.

The number represents the biggest increase since January 2012, when the main bourse surged 7.1 percent on-month.

The KOSPI index recorded the highest increase rate for January at 48.4 percent in 1998, when South Korea was recovering from the Asian financial crisis.

The amount of investor deposits that can be used to buy stocks rose to a record 30.6 trillion won (US$28.5 billion) Friday amid a market boom helped by robust corporate earnings and expectations of a global economic recovery.

The booming stock markets also prompted prospective investors to take out more loans from securities firms for stock investment.

The balance in stock collateral loans soared to an all-time high of 6.3 trillion won for the KOSDAQ market Friday, while the comparable figure for the KOSPI market stood at 4.7 trillion won.

hdh@yna.co.kr

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