NK-related stocks set to fly on Vietnam summit

With the US-North Korea summit scheduled to take place in Hanoi this week, North Korea-related stocks have been buoyed by the latest conciliatory mood, and a rally is forecast into the future.

Shares of South Korean resort operator Ananti, an operator of a resort at Kumgangsan in the North, was among the most traded shares on the Kosdaq bourse last week, with its weekly transactions amounting to nearly 705.3 billion won ($626.9 million), according to the Korea Exchange. The firm’s shares closed Friday at 26,550 won, which was 9.26 percent higher from the previous week. 

Kospi-listed Hanchang, which recently floated its plans to operate a ferry between the two Koreas, Russia and China, jumped 67.5 percent on-week to 3,685 won on Friday. It ranked fourth in terms of weekly transactions on the Kospi last week.

“The momentum of North Korea-related stocks is likely to continue with the conciliatory mood that will remain after the summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un,” Kim Yoon-seo, an analyst at Shinhan Financial Investment said, adding that the result of the summit will determine the length of the momentum.

But analysts also warned of the inter-Korean business stocks’ normally volatile nature, recalling how the stock values sharply fell following the US-North Korea summit held last June in Singapore.

By Jung Min-kyung (mkjung@heraldcorp.com)