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Publication Date<br />

04-Feb-2018<br />

Headline Kospi to top 3,000 this year, overweight investment ratings ..<br />

Outlet<br />

URL<br />

Snippet<br />

Pulse - South Korea<br />

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Global investment banks posted positive outlook for South Korean stocks with some<br />

predicting the country’s benchmark Kospi to top 3,000 near the end of this year, a report<br />

showed.<br />

According to the report by the Korea Center for International Finance on Sunday, five<br />

foreign investment banks - Nomura, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merill<br />

Lynch, and JP Morgan offered “overweight” investment rating on Korean stocks while two -<br />

Credit Suisse and HSBC - issued “neutral.”<br />

Nomura has set its target mark for Kospi at 3,000 and Citigroup at the range of 2,400 -<br />

3,000. Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse predicted the index could reach 2,900 this year.<br />

Bank of America Merill Lynch, JP Morgan, and HSBC marked their target at around 2,800.<br />

Korea has the second-most number of “overweight” ratings in Asia following China.<br />

In the report, the foreign investment banks picked global economic recovery, improvement<br />

in Korean corporate governance structure, and growing investor preference for riskier<br />

assets as positive factors for Korean stocks.<br />

They, however, warned of downside risks such as moderation in demand with economy<br />

slowing down its growth pace, higher-than-expected inflation, Korean won’s strengthening<br />

against the U.S. dollar, and North Korea-related geopolitical risks.<br />

Korea has extended stock market rally since last year, with the main Kospi index rising 21.8<br />

percent on year to finish the last trading session of year 2017 at 2,467.49 and secondary<br />

Kosdaq jumping 26.4 percent to 798.42, closing 2017 at a 10-year high. Offshore investors<br />

net purchased 9.4 trillion won ($8.7 billion) worth of Korean stocks in Kospi and Kosdaq.<br />

By Shin Heon-cheol and Cho Jeehyun<br />

[ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]

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