The daily turnover of South Korea's stock market spiked more than 33 percent on-year in October thanks mainly to the market's recent bull run, the bourse operator said Wednesday.
The combined shares traded on the main Korea Composite Stock Price Index and tech-heavy KOSDAQ markets averaged slightly over 10 trillion won ($8.93 billion) last month, up 33.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the Korea Exchange.
The amount was also up 14.1 percent from the previous month. It marks the first time in 27 months that the daily turnover has surpassed the 10 trillion-won mark.
The surge in the daily turnover was attributed to the main stock market's bullish run.
The benchmark KOSPI reached a fresh all-time high of 2,523.43 on Tuesday after it kept renewing record highs for several sessions, as investors loaded up on Samsung Electronics and other market heavyweights.
"The daily turnover jumped last month as investment by existing investors became more active," said Lee Jong-woo, a senior researcher at IBK Investment & Securities Co. "The recent bull run of the market was also responsible."
Some market watchers said an increase in the number of new retail investors had played a part.
"There is an uptrend in the number of investors although it doesn't appear to be as sufficient as in the past," said Ryu Yong-seok, a market analyst at KB Securities Co. "People aged 60 and older who have been out of the stock market for a while seem to be returning to the bourse."
Meanwhile, the outstanding amount of money borrowed by retail investors to buy stocks, so-called margin debt, stood at 8.8 trillion won as of Oct. 30, up nearly 30 percent from the end of last year. (Yonhap)
