South Korean shares rally on post-election stimulus, reform hopes

New Straits Times

3 days ago

SEOUL: South Korean shares climbed on Wednesday to their highest levels in 10 months, as liberal presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung's election victory raised hopes of swift economic stimulus policies and market reforms.
The benchmark KOSPI jumped 2.66 per cent to 2,770.84, posting its biggest daily gain in nearly two months and closing at the highest level since August 1, 2024.
Lee officially took office as president on Wednesday, just hours after his victory in a snap election the previous day. His swift rise to power ends six months of political turmoil sparked by former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed attempt to impose martial law in December - a move that stunned the country and rattled financial markets.
"The inauguration of the new administration resolved political uncertainty," said Kang Jin-hyeok, an analyst at Shinhan Securities.
"And, there are expectations that policy drives could be strong as Lee's Democratic Party holds a majority in parliament," Kang said.
Foreign investors snapped up local shares worth 1.05 trillion won (US$766.60 million), marking their biggest single-day purchase since August 16, 2024.
Lee has pledged to bring corporate reform measures to boost the domestic stock market, raise investment in artificial intelligence, and revive an economy reeling from slowing growth with stimulus policies.
On capital markets, Lee has pledged to revive legislation within a few weeks to curb abuses by controlling shareholders of chaebol conglomerates, as part of his "KOSPI 5,000" pledge to double the value of the domestic stock market.
The revision to the Commercial Act is seen by market analysts as a fundamental change needed to resolve the so-called "Korea Discount", a tendency for local shares to be undervalued compared with global peers due to low dividend payouts and opaque corporate governance.
The securities sector was the top gainer, rising 8.1 per cent to its highest level since August 2009, while financial groups jumped 6.5 per cent to the highest point since May 2008.
Analysts anticipate that these sectors will be among the biggest beneficiaries of ongoing market reform efforts.
"We expect to see meaningful progress in capital market and governance reform post-election," Morgan Stanley's analysts said in a note, setting their KOSPI target for June 2026 at 2,800 for the base case and 3,100 for the bullish case.
Renewable energy stocks rallied on expectations of a reversal in energy policy away from nuclear energy, with Hanwha Solutions climbing 5.7 per cent and OCI gaining 4.9 per cent, while the construction sector rose nearly 3 per cent on stimulus hopes.
With President Lee signaling a more conciliatory approach toward North Korea and China, stocks linked to North Korea, such as In The F and Namkwang Engineering & Construction , as well as China-exposed sectors like beauty and entertainment, saw gains.
Among major heavyweights, chipmaker SK Hynix gained 4.8 per cent, while rival Samsung Electronics rose 1.8 per cent, further buoyed by overnight gains among US peers.
"A combination of aggressive industrial policies and expansionary fiscal policies could lead to faster economic growth, at least in the short term," said Kim Jin-wook, an economist at Citi.
Lee announced plans to draft a second supplementary government budget of at least 30 trillion won to support the trade-reliant economy, which has been hit by US tariffs and is projected to grow by just 0.8 per cent this year. This follows a 13.8 trillion won supplementary budget passed in May.
The won strengthened 0.55 per cent to 1,369.5 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform.
The country's treasury bond yields rose, with the benchmark 10-year yield gaining 9.3 basis points to 2.894 per cent, the biggest jump since January 13.