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Korea's financial market was shaken by the news that the US would start reducing the amount of money released in the market within this year by 'tapering', that is, reducing asset purchases. The unabated spread of delta mutations is also raising concerns.
Reporter Kim Jung-woo reports.
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Major U.S. stock indexes plummeted as the US central bank's Federal Reserve system announced that it could begin 'tapering', that is, tightening money lines by reducing asset purchases within this year.
Our stock index also fell.
The KOSPI index closed at 3097.83 and fell below the 3,100 level for the first time in four months, and the KOSDAQ index also collapsed at the 1,000 level.
Foreigners collected their investment for eight consecutive trading days, increasing the decline.
[Park Gwang-nam/Senior Research Fellow Mirae Asset Securities: (USA) We believe that it is the combined effect of concerns about the economic slowdown and the tapering issue. The KOSPI 3,100 line, which served as a psychological support line, collapsed. I think the investor sentiment has gotten a little worse.] The
won-dollar exchange rate soared by 30 won to close to 1,180 won in a week, also encouraging foreign investors to leave.
This is because when the value of the dollar rises, foreigners who have invested in Korean won in the past will recover their investment in dollars and lose money.
[Seo Jeong-hoon / Research Fellow, Hana Bank Money Market: The desire to recover funds quickly will inevitably increase. In order to prevent foreign exchange losses in advance, it has no choice but to act as a factor of upward pressure on the exchange rate.] In
particular, individual investor losses are snowballing.
This is because nearly half of individual investors from January last year until recently bought stocks when the KOSPI index exceeded 3,100.
As the Bank of Korea is scheduled to discuss whether to raise the base rate at the Monetary Policy Committee on the 26th, it is expected to act as another variable in the Korean financial market.