KOSPI Daily Trading Volume Nears 30 Trillion Won Ahead of Lunar New Year

Daily trading value on South Korea's KOSPI market approached 30 trillion won in February, marking a historic liquidity surge that persisted even ahead of the extended Lunar New Year holiday.

According to the Korea Exchange on Feb. 14, the average daily trading value on KOSPI reached 29.33 trillion won this month, up 8.42% from January's 27.06 trillion won and surging 140% from the same period last year. Average daily trading volume also jumped approximately 42% month-over-month to 781.77 million shares.

On the last trading day before the holiday, KOSPI closed at 5,507.01, down 15.26 points or 0.28% from the previous session, but successfully defended the 5,500 level. The index had earlier hit an intraday record high of 5,583.74. Despite the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunging more than 2% overnight in New York, the Korean market demonstrated relatively solid resilience.

Foreign investors recorded net purchases of 3.23 trillion won for the week despite some profit-taking ahead of the five-day market closure. Institutional investors bought a net 5.66 trillion won during the same period, while retail investors were net sellers of 9.27 trillion won as they locked in gains.

KOSPI's total market capitalization expanded 5.44% this month to 4,553.53 trillion won as of the previous day. Samsung Electronics, which breached the 180,000 won mark, soared 12.71% in February alone, pushing its market cap well above 1,000 trillion won. This contrasted with SK Hynix, which posted a negative 3.19% return during the same period, losing its "900,000 won Hynix" title.

Securities stocks led KOSPI's bull run this month, excluding top-weighted Samsung Electronics. The sector benefited directly from surging trading volumes as public interest in the stock market intensified. The KOSPI "Securities" theme index rose 24.50% in February, ranking first overall—more than four times the gains of the broader KOSPI (5.41%) and KOSPI 200 (6.01%). The "KRX Securities" index also climbed 15.42% this month, ranking second among all KRX theme indices behind "KRX Banks."

Securities firms backed their stock performance with record earnings. Korea Investment & Securities posted net profit of 2.01 trillion won, becoming the industry's first member of the "2 trillion won club." Other major brokerages also reported net profits exceeding 1 trillion won: Mirae Asset Securities at 1.59 trillion won, Kiwoom Securities at 1.12 trillion won, NH Investment & Securities at 1.03 trillion won, and Samsung Securities at 1.01 trillion won.

Meanwhile, alternative trading system Nextrade (NXT) also saw trading volumes and values increase this year amid the market boom. According to Nextrade, average daily trading value this month reached approximately 20.24 trillion won, up 186% from December last year. Average daily volume rose about 166% to approximately 364 million shares.