[Morning Briefing] Dow hits 'all-time high'…Seoul apartments' market cap 'record high'

◆Wall Street closes higher on tech rally…Dow hits record high

The three major U.S. stock indexes finished higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average set a new all-time high. On the 9th local time, the Dow rose 0.04% from the previous session to 50,135.87, the S&P 500 gained 0.47% to 6,964.82, and the Nasdaq climbed 0.9% to 23,238.67. Equities were led by tech shares, with Oracle surging 9.84%, as concerns eased that generative artificial intelligence (AI) could hurt software companies.

◆ChatGPT monthly growth returns to double digits…"coding model in demand"

OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which had stalled amid pressure from Gemini and Claude, appears to have regained strong momentum. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is said to have told employees recently that "ChatGPT’s monthly growth rate has topped 10% again." The rebound was driven by robust usage growth, including a 50% increase in Codex usage within a week after the release of the coding model 'GPT-5.3-Codex' on the 5th. OpenAI is also set to unveil a new chatbot model this week. Previously, OpenAI issued an internal major alert late last year as it faced intensified competition from Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude.

◆Redevelopment added KRW 15 trillion…Seoul apartments’ market cap 'KRW 1,847 trillion'

Seoul’s apartment transaction market capitalization was estimated at KRW 1,847.1643 trillion as of January this year, marking an all-time high. According to Real Estate R114, while the market cap of standard apartment complexes fell 0.11% month on month, redevelopment complexes rose 4.56% in a single month, lifting the overall total by KRW 14.85 trillion (0.81%). The figure was up 13.1% from a year earlier. By district, Gangnam-gu ranked highest at KRW 333.9396 trillion, followed by Songpa-gu at KRW 238.0489 trillion and Seocho-gu at KRW 224.1635 trillion. Industry officials pointed to a lack of new supply and a decline in long-term and monthly rental listings as drivers of price gains.

◆Cabinet meeting ahead of Lunar New Year…attention on President Lee’s 'housing and inflation message'

President Lee Jae-myung will chair a Cabinet meeting ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. According to the presidential office, the government’s policy focus this week is 'a major leap forward in people’s lives, and livelihood centered on empathy and comfort.' Having emphasized livelihood measures via personal social media channels, President Lee is expected to deliver a hard-line message at the meeting on curbing real estate speculation and stabilizing prices, in a bid to shore up so-called 'kitchen-table sentiment.' Since declaring on Jan. 31 that "normalizing real estate is far easier and more important than KOSPI 5,000," he has continued to issue tough remarks. At a senior presidential staff meeting on the 5th, he also instructed officials to review a 'price management task force.'

◆Decision today on medical school quota increase…medical community signals collective pushback

The Health and Medical Care Policy Deliberation Committee under the Ministry of Health and Welfare will finalize the scale of increases in medical school admissions quotas for five years from the 2027 academic year. Based on estimates of physician shortages by the Physician Workforce Supply and Demand Projection Committee and expected output from public medical schools, the annual increase is projected at 732–840 students (total 3,662–4,200). The government plans to reach a conclusion at today’s meeting. The Korean Medical Association and others, however, have warned of collective action, arguing the deliberation process is unscientific and irrational.

◆Snow and rain nationwide as cold snap eases

On Tuesday the 10th, the cold snap is expected to ease, with morning temperatures in most parts of the country likely to rise above freezing. The Korea Meteorological Administration forecast a morning low of -7 to 3°C and a daytime high of 3 to 9°C. However, with generally cloudy skies and rain or snow in many areas, extra caution is needed for road safety. Expected snowfall includes 1–3 cm in northern and southeastern Gyeonggi and less than 1 cm in Seoul. Rainfall is forecast at less than 5 mm in the Seoul metropolitan area and Gangwon inland/mountain areas, and around 5 mm in the Chungcheong region. Fine dust levels are expected to be 'bad' in Seoul and northern Gyeonggi, and 'good' to 'moderate' elsewhere.

Oh Se-seong, Hankyung.com reporter sesung@hankyung.com