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| ▲ Traders work inside the dealing room of Hana Bank in central Seoul on Feb. 12, 2026. (Yonhap) |
KOSDAQ-rise
KOSDAQ becomes 2nd-best-performing global index on gov't support measures
By Kang Jae-eun
SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's smaller KOSDAQ was the second-best-performing stock index in the world over the past month, only after the country's benchmark KOSPI, amid government measures to boost the secondary market, data showed Monday.
The KOSDAQ rose 16.45 percent from 949.81 points on Jan. 13 to 1,106.08 points on Friday, according to the data from Yonhap Infomax, the financial arm of Yonhap News Agency.
Trailing behind the KOSDAQ were SET and ISE-100 -- benchmark indexes of Thailand and Turkey -- which rose by 16.05 percent and 15.71 percent, respectively, during the one-month period.
The KOSDAQ sharply outperformed U.S. markets. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 4.79 percent and the S&P 500 inched down 2.07 percent over the one-month period, according to the data.
The best-performing stock index in the world was South Korea's benchmark KOSPI (Korea Composite Stock Price Index), which jumped 19.07 percent during the cited period.
"The KOSDAQ index is continuing to rise, mostly driven by investments in exchange-traded funds (ETF) holding companies in the secondary market, amid anticipation that the government's policy focus will move to the KOSDAQ," Lee Sung-hoon, an analyst from Kiwoom Securities, said.
The government has announced a slew of measures to boost the venture-heavy KOSDAQ under its initiative to transition into productive finance.
It has vowed to expand public investments in the secondary market while tightening delisting rules to remove troubled companies, which have long been considered a drag on the junior market's growth.
An even bolder move is under way at the National Assembly.
Earlier this month, a ruling Democratic Party lawmaker proposed a bill to spin off all functions related to the KOSDAQ market at the Korea Exchange, the country's main bourse operator, into an independent subsidiary.
The bill aims to grow the secondary market into the likes of Nasdaq in the United States.
"The key point of the government's measures is to establish a structural base for institutional investors to participate in the KOSDAQ market," Jeong Eui-hyun, an analyst from Mirae Asset Securities, said.
"We think the measures could both normalize liquidity and valuation of the secondary market," he added.
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