KOSPI Rebounds by 8,000 Points in One Day; 'Korea's Fear Index' Hits Record High

[Anchor]

The KOSPI has recovered the 8,000-point mark just one day after the shock of yesterday's (June 8) sharp decline. However, the volatility index has also soared to an all-time high. Experts are warning that stock prices may continue to fluctuate significantly for the time being.

Reporter Min Gyeong-ho has the story.

[Reporter]

The KOSPI opened the day with a surge of over 2.8%, or 200 points, compared to the previous day.

A sidecar was triggered early in the session, and the upward momentum intensified after 11:30 a.m.

Ultimately, the index closed at 8,096 points, up 8.18% from yesterday, marking the largest single-day point increase in history with a gain of 612 points.

This effectively reversed 90% of yesterday's losses in just one day.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix led the rally, jumping approximately 9% and 15%, respectively.

The recovery in investor sentiment was largely driven by the announcement of a halt in attacks between Iran and Israel, which led to a significant jump in the stock prices of U.S. semiconductor companies overnight.

However, experts predict that the volatile market trend will continue until the second-quarter earnings announcements of major U.S. tech companies, including semiconductor firms, next month.

They note that because the rise in stock prices for semiconductor companies was so steep and rapid, skepticism regarding whether the sector has reached its peak is spreading through the market.

[Lee Jin-woo / Head of Research Center, Meritz Securities: The momentum has reached a temporary conclusion. It is likely that the pattern of the market feeling anxious and then finding relief will repeat for the time being...]

Starting with the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) announcement tomorrow night, a series of major events are scheduled, including interest rate decisions in Japan and Europe.

[Lee Sang-heon / Senior Research Fellow, iM Securities: There are aspects that could hint at the possibility of tightening policies... Concerns over liquidity contraction could be reflected, which may (bring about) unfavorable volatility in the stock market.]

The KOSPI 200 Volatility Index, often referred to as "Korea's fear index" due to the repeated sharp fluctuations, has reached an all-time high of 91.23, surpassing levels seen even during the outbreak of war.

Experts advise caution in trading and specifically warn against investing in leveraged products, which can suffer from the "negative compounding effect"—where it becomes impossible to recover the principal—during periods of high volatility.

(Video Editing: Kim Jun-hee)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.