KOSPI
Region: ASIA · Currency: KRW
Other indices
What drives the price
KOSPI is a major equity benchmark tracking large publicly-listed companies in South Korea. Like all stock indices, its level reflects the aggregate market value of its constituents — moves up and down reflect changes in earnings expectations, discount rates, and risk sentiment across the underlying companies.
- Central bank policy and government bond yields in South Korea drive the discount-rate component of valuations
- Corporate earnings season releases set the bottom-up fundamentals signal
- Currency moves matter when constituent companies have significant foreign-currency revenues
- Global risk sentiment and cross-asset flows (especially US Treasury yields and the DXY) overlay on top of domestic factors
Frequently asked questions
What is the KOSPI?
KOSPI is a major stock market index tracking large companies traded in South Korea. It is used by investors and analysts as a benchmark for the broader South Korea equity market and serves as the underlying for many tradeable ETFs and futures contracts.
How can I invest in the KOSPI?
You cannot buy the index directly, but you can gain exposure via ETFs that replicate it, or trade futures and options on it. ETF expense ratios for major indices typically range from 0.05% to 0.5% per year.
What drives the KOSPI day-to-day?
Short-term moves are driven by central bank policy expectations, the path of South Korea interest rates, corporate earnings releases, and global risk sentiment. Larger structural moves track economic-growth and inflation cycles over months.
When does the KOSPI market open and close?
Trading hours follow the home exchange — typically 9:00-9:30 to 15:30-17:00 local time on weekdays. Pre-market and after-hours trading is available via futures and certain ETFs that trade around the clock during the trading week.
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About this index
KOSPI is one of the most-tracked equity benchmarks in its market. NowPrice publishes the live level along with intraday range and a 24-hour / 7-day / 30-day price-history chart. Data is sourced from Yahoo Finance and refreshed every 5 minutes during local trading hours; outside of session, the figure is the most recent close.