Daily Limit-Up Stocks Fall to 112, Less Than Half of Early-Year Level
The number of stocks reaching the daily price limit — the maximum amount a share can rise in a single day — stood at 112 this month, less than half the level recorded at the start of the year. That is down 52 percent from January's 234 and 57 percent from July's 261, a month of heightened volatility.
The monthly trend on the KOSPI market shows a marked cooling in the second half. Limit-up stocks rose steadily from 33 in January to 38 in February, 47 in March, 46 in April, 52 in May and 56 in June, before hitting a monthly high of 68 in July. But the figure dropped sharply to 37 in August and fell further to 17 this month. The KOSDAQ market followed a similar trajectory. Limit-up stocks peaked at 223 in April, then fell to 140 in August and down to 95 this month.
Downside volatility, however, has not eased in tandem. This month, 14 stocks closed at the daily lower limit — one on the KOSPI and 13 on KOSDAQ. That already exceeds last month's total of 12 and is more than double January's five.
The fragmentation of the market rally is also evident in the number of stocks hitting 52-week highs. Through the 21st, stocks closing at 52-week highs on the KOSPI had reached 207 in February and 145 in April, but fell to 31 in August and just 26 this month. On KOSDAQ, 52-week high stocks, which numbered 256 in April and 243 in May, plunged to 25 in July before recovering to 42 this month. By contrast, stocks closing at 52-week lows over the same period reached 73 on the KOSPI and 171 on KOSDAQ, far outnumbering those hitting new highs.
The KOSPI started the year in the 4,000s and now trades above the 7,000 mark, but the rally has failed to spread across the broader market. With gains concentrated in a handful of large-cap stocks, buying interest in individual shares has weakened. Hur Jae-hwan, a researcher at Eugene Investment & Securities, explained that while funds sitting in banks flowed aggressively into the stock market during the first half's index rally, inflows of new money have slowed since June and July, with existing funds rotating between stocks. He added that with interest rates having risen sharply, small- and mid-cap stocks with relatively weak financial structures inevitably face greater strain.
