[Anchor]

Today, the KOSPI posted a sharp gain as semiconductors and other sectors rose evenly. Meanwhile, as delisting requirements have been tightened to weed out troubled companies, 36 stocks, including so-called "penny stocks" trading below 1,000 won, have been designated as administrative issues.

Reporter Kim Hye-min has the details.

[Reporter]

It was not just the two major semiconductor giants that drove the KOSPI up 3.6% today.

While Samsung Electronics surged 6.6% and SK Hynix jumped 5.5%, cosmetics stocks such as Kolmar Korea and Cosmax, as well as Doosan Enerbility and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, also showed strong gains.

During this year's KOSPI surge, semiconductor concentration meant that declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones. However, entering this month, the number of advancing stocks has exceeded declining stocks on every single day except one.

The KOSPI 200 Volatility Index also dropped back to the 50s for the first time in three months.

Experts explained that this indicates a easing of market concentration, with signs of a rotation where stock prices in various sectors rise in turn.

[Interview / Han Ji-young / Researcher, Kiwoom Securities : Unlike the rebounds following the sharp drops in May and June, this bounce is not just concentrated in semiconductors. The warmth of rotation seems to be spreading much more widely than before.]

Measures to strengthen the delisting of troubled companies in the stock market, aimed at resolving the Korea Discount, have also officially taken effect.

Thirty-six companies have been designated as administrative issues, including so-called penny stocks whose share prices fall short of 1,000 won and companies with market capitalizations below 30 billion won for the KOSPI or 20 billion won for the KOSDAQ.

These are companies whose share prices remained below 1,000 won for 30 consecutive trading days starting July 1, or those that fell short of market capitalization criteria. If they fail to meet the standards for 45 out of 90 subsequent trading days, they will become subject to final delisting.

[Interview / Kang So-hyun / Senior Research Fellow, Korea Capital Market Institute : Regulations restricting the listing of penny stocks have been continuously implemented in the U.S. for a very long time. When trading volume is low and price volatility is high, the possibility of intentionally manipulating stock prices increases.]

However, concerns are also being raised that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) whose share prices plummeted regardless of their earnings or financial health due to recent stock market volatility could suffer damages.

The Korea Federation of SMEs has requested that the relevant criteria be supplemented and the implementation postponed.

(Photo courtesy of Yonhap News / Video by Seol Chi-hwan / Video Editing by Lee Sang-min / Design by Lee Jun-ho)