<Anchor> This
is a friendly economic time.
Reporter Han Ji-yeon is also here today (the 15th).
Let's take a look at our stock market yesterday.
How was the stock market yesterday?
<Reporter>
Yes, the KOSPI closed down for two consecutive trading days yesterday, and yesterday it plunged 1.57% and pulled up to the 2,700 level.
It also fell below 2,700 during the day, but it is the first time in eight trading days since the 28th of last month, before the Lunar New Year holiday.
By industry, all except banking and pharmaceuticals fell.
The date of the Russian invasion, set by the White House, is just one day away, amid growing fears of strong US austerity.
It appears that investor sentiment is rapidly freezing.
When I checked the New York Stock Exchange before the broadcast, the Dow closed 0.49%, the S&P 500 fell 0.39%, and the Nasdaq closed 0.001%.
If the minutes of the US Federal Reserve's FOMC meeting of last month are released the day after tomorrow, the intensity of tightening will be re-evaluated, but financial market volatility is expected to increase until the month after the first rate hike.
Experts said that both the US stock market and the KOSPI will enter the second decline phase, and they are predicting this, and the KOSPI may fall below 2,600.
<Anchor>
To summarize the current situation, tightening due to inflation concerns, followed by uncertainty about the Ukraine situation, etc. seem to be having a bad effect on our stock market right now.
Let's talk a little bit about the situation in Ukraine.
Are you saying that as tensions rise, our companies are also on the verge of an emergency?
<Reporter>
Yes, there are quite a few companies that have corporations or factories in the country. In addition to Samsung and LG, there are about 10 including Hyundai, POSCO and Hankook Tire.
It is said that the withdrawal of employees has already been completed or some are being prepared. From an economic point of view, the market size of these two countries is not as large as that of Europe, so the ripple effect of the Russian invasion itself is more concerned than the direct damage.
The domestic economy is highly dependent on energy imports and has the characteristics of being export-oriented.
If the United States or Europe imposes economic sanctions or export restrictions on Russia over this situation, Korean companies could be greatly affected.
For example, since the US took out a semiconductor sanctions card to Russia, semiconductors with US technology cannot be exported from third countries.
This inevitably puts domestic companies in the sphere of influence.
Industries such as aviation, shipping and petrochemicals, which depend heavily on raw materials from Russia and Ukraine, could also be hit by soaring raw material prices.
<Anchor>
Uncertainty caused by the crisis in Ukraine can have such a bad effect not only on the stock market but also on the Korean economy as a whole.
In such an unstable situation, gold is the representative safe asset that people prefer.
Is that why the price of gold has risen so much?
<Reporter>
Yes, it was the highest in 1 year and 4 months.
Yesterday, the price per gram of gold closed at 71,390 won, up 1.46% from the previous trading day.
Based on the closing price, it is the highest level since 71,560 won on October 6, 2020, and gold and gold generally move in the opposite direction to risky assets.
Gold, a safe asset, did not see the light of day when stock and cryptocurrency prices rose last year, but the situation has changed since the second half of last year.
As inflationary pressures increased, gold prices turned bullish again, reaching the 70,000 won/gram level in November of last year for the first time in a year.
Fear of an impending Russian invasion also pushed gold prices higher.
<Anchor>
Lastly, let's talk about Tesla.
Tesla is said to be fined 10 billion won, what is the reason?
<Reporter>
Regarding the performance of the electric vehicle battery sold in Korea, the website said that it can drive more than 528 km on a single charge, but when the temperature drops below freezing, the driving range can be further reduced by 40%.
However, since this was not clearly communicated to consumers, the Fair Trade Commission regarded this as an exaggerated advertisement.
I saw it like this.
The maximum fine for violations of the Labeling and Advertising Act is 2% of annual sales.
It is likely that a fine of 10 billion won may be imposed.
Also, we are looking into the part that exaggeratedly advertised 'Autopilot', which only provides driving assistance, as autonomous driving.
We plan to impose a fine of 100,000 won in order fee when ordering online for non-refundable even after canceling the order.