KOSDAQ market trading volume surges in March to $212.4 billion

[Photo by Yonhap]

South Korea’s tech-laden KOSDAQ market saw a surge in trading volume last month as individual investors flocked to the market.

Trading volume reached 280.24 trillion won ($212.4 billion) in March, up 178 percent from 100.7 trillion won in October of last year, according to the Korea Exchange on Thursday. Daily trading volume, which once averaged in the 5 trillion won range, increased to 12.74 trillion won last month, the highest since February 2021.

After the monthly trading volume of the market dropped to 100 trillion won in October, it showed a stagnant trend at 123 trillion won in November, 107.5 trillion won in December, but has since demonstrated a growing trend with 123.46 trillion won in January, 192.6 trillion won in February, and 280.24 trillion won in March.

The average daily trading value of the KOSDAQ market has more than halved in the past year, having never exceeded 10 trillion won since December 2021, when it reached 11.22 trillion won.

The average daily trading value has doubled in the first three months of this year, reaching 6.17 trillion won in January, 9.63 trillion won in February and 12.74 trillion won in March, after hovering around 5 trillion won for three months from October last year.

The KOSDAQ index recovered to the 870 level Wednesday, up nearly 30 percent from 671 on Jan. 2.

Battery material makers EcoPro BM Co. and EcoPro Co. have dominated the KOSDAQ market with a combined trading volume of over 54 trillion won for the past few months. These two companies were followed by L&F Corp., Rainbow Robotics Co. and SM Entertainment Co., in terms of trading volume, this year.

The KOSPI market has also seen an increase in trading volume this year, but it has not been able to match the KOSDAQ market. The monthly trading volume for KOSPI increased to 196.57 trillion won in March from 139.36 trillion won in January. The daily average trading volume also increased to 8.93 trillion won in March from 6.97 trillion won in January.