The average daily turnover in the South Korean stock market topped 10 trillion won ($9.31 billion) in April for the first time in nearly four years as investors flocked to riskier assets from low-yielding bank deposits, data showed Sunday.
The average turnover on the benchmark KOSPI and the tech-rich KOSDAQ markets amounted to 10.87 trillion won per day last month, according to the data compiled by the local bourse operator Korea Exchange.
The last time the comparable figure touched the 10 trillion-won mark was in August 2011.
Trading on the local stock market has been rising as foreigners’ and retail investors’ appetites for high-return investment vehicles grew amid the country’s record-low key interest rate.
In March, the Bank of Korea slashed the key rate by a quarter percentage point to a new low of 1.75 percent, pushing the key rate below 2 percent for the first time in history. The central bank later decided to keep the rate at the status quo last month.
Share prices have also gone up over the cited period amid the vigorous stock transactions. Compared with the beginning of April, the KOSPI jumped 131.18 points, or 6.6 percent, to close at 2,127.17 during the last trading session of the month. (Yonhap)
