Coupang's potential Nasdaq listing raises hype in related stocks in Korea

[Photo by Han Joo-hyung]

The news that South Korea’s e-commerce giant Coupang Corp. passed the preliminary review for a Nasdaq listing gave a short-lived boost to shares of related stocks on home turf last week.

Dongbang, a transportation logistics contractor of Coupang, rose by the daily limit of 30 percent for three sessions until Friday. They flew as soon as Coupang received the green light for a Nasdaq joining as early as March.

Shares in Dongbang closed Monday down 16.1 percent.

Stocks of corrugated cardboard makers also rose. Daeyoung Packaging jumped 22.19 percent on Jan. 12 and Youngpoong Paper rose 7 to 8 percent on Jan. 12-13.

On Monday, Daeyoung Packaging tumbled 5.29 percent and Youngpoong Paper 5.26 percent.

Content providers that have struck a deal with Coupang’s streaming platform Coupang Play also saw their shares soar.

Shares in KTH, the content distributor under KT Corp., surged 24.54 percent on Jan. 11 and finished the next day rising by the daily maximum. Showbox hit the daily ceiling on Jan. 13.

KTH fell 3.42 percent and Showbox slid 4.88 percent on Monday.

The fanfare over Coupang’s Nasdaq debut also spilled over to other Korean e-commerce players.

Shares in Emart jumped to as high as 191,500 won ($173.5) in mid-day trading on Jan. 12, the first time it topped 190,000 won in nearly two years.

Lotte Shopping shares exceeded 120,000 won for the first time since January 2020.

Shares in Emart fell 2.58 percent and Lotte Shopping 6.28 percent on Monday.

[ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]