Kospi ceilingless for 3 consecutive days

The first-tier stock market in South Korea remained ceilingless for three consecutive days Wednesday.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 2,317.34, up 0.24 percent compared to Tuesday closing at a record-high 2,311.74, despite losses in gains from early morning trade.

Opening at 2,318.86, the Kospi peaked at 2,322.54 in about 10 minutes -- the highest in history. The index hovered at around 2,315 since late morning trade.

The second-tier Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations also rose for four trading days in a row. It closed at 646.04 Wednesday, up 0.2 percent from Tuesday. 

Institutional buyers maintained the bullish drive in place of foreign investors. Institutional investors bought stocks worth 75 billion won ($66.5 million). Offshore investors sold 83.7 billion won worth of stocks and individual investors put 35.6 billion won worth of stocks on sales in total.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics, meanwhile, shed 0.09 percent to 2,244,000 won. Excluding Monday, shares of Samsung Electronics saw drops in the latest six trading days.

Local brokerages have raised the stock index forecast leveraged by an anticipated brisk performance of local listed firms in the second quarter. On Tuesday, Yoo Seung-min, an analyst at Samsung Securities, moved the all-year high forecast from 2,330 to 2,460 in 2017 and 2,450 to 2,630 in 2018.

Earlier, Hanwha Investment & Securities forecast the index to hit 2,580 at maximum. Hana Financial Investment saw 2,600 as the ceiling of the Kospi this year.

Meanwhile, the local currency against the dollar continued to fall for two consecutive days. The Won was traded at 1,126.8 won against the greenback, at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, down 0.29 percent from Tuesday.

By Son Ji-hyoung (consnow@heraldcorp.com)