Martial law accelerates hesitant investors to leave domesticstock market

South Korea's stock market rebounded five days after the December 3 emergency martial law crisis, but individualinvestors continued to sell for a third consecutive trading day, unable to shake off fears over prolonged uncertainty.

It is displayed that the market price of the KOSPI rose and the won-dollar exchange rate fell on the dealing room board of Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the morning of December 10. Yonhap News

On December 10, the KOSPI closed at 2417.84, up 57.26, or 2.43 percent, from the previous day. The KOSDAQ also gained 34.58 points, or 5.52 percent, to close at 661.59. The won-dollar exchange rate was down 10.1 won from the previous day to 1,426.9 won (weekly trading closing price at 3:30)

Despite the stock market's gains in the five trading days since the state of emergency, individual investors’ sentiment has cooled sharply.

Individuals sold a net 423 billion won in the stock market, and 413.7 billion won on the KOSDAQ. That's a total of 836 billion won sold on the Korean stock market in a single day.

Individuals have sold more than 3 trillion won in the past six days.

“The stock market's decline is being fueled by public fear,” said Park Seung-young, a researcher at Hanwha Investment & Securities. “Individual net sellers are disappointed with the Korean market and are leaving for the U.S. market.”

According to data of investment in foreign currency securities from the Korea Securities Depository, the amount of foreign securities (stocks + bonds) invested in the U.S., Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, and other countries was $154.7398 billion on December 3 but increased to $159.7684 billion on December 6. That's $5.285 billion more in overseas investment in three days.

Foreigners' investment sentiment hasn't recovered either. Foreigners were net sellers of KRW 151 billion on the KOSPI. On the KOSDAQ, however, they were net buyers of 291.1 billion won. It is believed that the 'dip buying' came in as small- and mid-cap stocks on the KOSDAQ fell to their lowest prices in more than four years and eight months.

“We plan to respond to excessive market volatility aggressively enough to reverse market sentiment,” Choi Sang-mok, deputy prime minister and Minister of Economy andFinance, said at a pre-market meeting on Emergency Macroeconomic and Financial Current Issues (F4 meeting).

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.

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