[Edaily Reporter Kwon Oh Seok ] With Japan following the U.S. in raising interest rates, the KOSPI continues to rise unabated.

According to MP Doctor on the 18th, the KOSPI opened at 6,885.70, up 170.29 points (2.54%) from the previous trading day, and as of 1:54 p.m., it was trading at 6,896.05, up 180.64 points (2.69%).
So far today, retail investors alone have been net sellers of 2.7668 trillion won on the KOSPI market, while foreign and institutional investors have been net buyers of 315.3 billion won and 1.0909 trillion won, respectively.
Despite the fallout from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s (Fed) benchmark interest rate hike, the New York stock market managed to rebound overnight, and the KOSPI also opened higher, buoyed by this positive momentum from the U.S. Earlier, the Fed raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to a range of 3.75% to 4.00% at its regular Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. It also hinted at the possibility of additional hikes later this year.
When interest rates rise, the interest rates on safe assets such as deposits, savings accounts, and government bonds naturally increase. From an investor’s perspective, there is no need to take on risk by investing in stocks; simply keeping money in bank deposits or bonds is enough to earn a return. Consequently, when the benchmark interest rate rises, there is a high likelihood that funds will flow out of the stock market.
Nevertheless, the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds fell from 5% to the 4.9% range, easing pressure on the market. In addition, the Bank of England’s (BOE) decision to keep interest rates unchanged provided some relief to the global bond market. This is cited as the reason why the impact on the stock market is likely to be minimal, even though the Bank of Japan decided today to raise its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points—from the current level of around 1.0% to around 1.25%.
Consequently, the domestic stock market also appears to be gaining upward momentum. Leading semiconductor stocks— SamsungElectronics(005930), up 8,250 won (3.27%) from the previous trading day to 260,750 won, and SK hynix(000660), up 104,000 won (5.96%) to 1,849,000 won—are both trading higher.
Meanwhile, the KOSDAQ opened at 832.72, up 10.54 points (1.28%) from the previous trading day, and is currently trading at 827.90, up 5.72 points (0.70%) at the same time.