'Lee's 100th Day in Office' KOSPI breaks another record in early trading

President Lee Jae-myung's 100th-day press conference

"Expectations for stock market revitalization measures"

Futures and options simultaneous expiration 'quadruple witching day'

On the 11th, which marked President Lee Jae-myung's 100th day in office and the 'quadruple witching day' when futures and options expire simultaneously, the KOSPI index pierced the 3,340 level intraday, extending its record-high rally for a second day.

As of 9:05 a.m. that day, the KOSPI stood at 3,343.3, up 28.77 points (0.87%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 3,336.6, up 0.67% on the day, marking a new record following the previous day.

Policy expectations appear to have warmed investor sentiment. President Lee held a 100-day press conference that day, where he was expected to mention stock market revitalization measures including a relaxation of the major shareholder capital gains tax threshold.

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yoon-chul also hinted at the possibility of easing the major shareholder threshold, saying, "A policy decided by the government is not necessarily always right."

At this time in the KOSPI market, individuals and institutions were net buyers of 46.6 billion won and 12.2 billion won, respectively. Foreigners, who had net bought more than 1.5 trillion won worth the previous day, were net sellers by 25.9 billion won.

Most of the top market-cap stocks on the KOSPI were rising. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix were up 1.24% and 3.45%, respectively. U.S. software firm Oracle posted surprise results, which is believed to have drawn buying into artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks.

LG Energy Solution rebounded from a previous-day decline, drawing buybacks and rising 3.08%.

The KOSDAQ index was also up for an eighth consecutive trading day. At this time, the KOSDAQ stood at 833.81, up 0.81 points (0.1%) from the previous day. On the KOSDAQ market, individuals were net buyers of 99.4 billion won. Foreigners and institutions were net sellers by 67.4 billion won and 23.5 billion won, respectively.

Top KOSDAQ market-cap stocks showed mixed moves. EcoPro BM, Pharmaresearch, EcoPro, and Rino Industrial were rising, while Alteogen, Peptron, and Rainbow Robotics were falling.

Following President Lee's remark about "promoting foreign cosmetic surgery tourism," Global Tax Free jumped 12.6%.

The won-dollar exchange rate opened higher. In the Seoul foreign exchange market that day, the won-dollar rate opened at 1,389.1 won, up 2.5 won from the previous day.

Noh Jeong-dong, Hankyung.com reporter dong2@hankyung.com