KOSPI hits 5-month high as Fed acts

South Korea’s benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index passed the 2,000-point mark on Friday, hitting a five-month high upon the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary stimulus action and S&P’s upgrades of the country’s credit ratings.

Seoul stocks closed at 2,007.58 points, a jump of 2.92 percent from the previous day.

The U.S. Federal Reserve announced on Friday it would implement a third round of quantitative easing by purchasing additional agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $40 billion per month as well as continue through the end of the year its program to extend the average maturity of its holdings of securities as announced in June.

The action, which is hoped to boost growth and reduce unemployment, is the strongest expected by the world’s finance industry.

U.S. Federal Open Market Committee’s decision to purchase additional mortgage-backed securities and Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services upgraded the nation’s credit rating from “A” to “A+.”

Market heavyweights were big winners, with tech behemoth Samsung Electronics soaring 2.69 percent to 1,336,000 won ($1,191) and top carmaker Hyundai Motor gaining 4.9 percent to 246,000 won.

The local currency ended at 1,117.20 won to the greenback, up 11.20 won from Thursday’s close, on strong appetite for risky assets, dealers said.

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldcorp.com)