한국 증시 '검은 10월'…월간 기준 2008년 금융위기 이후 최대 낙폭

Turning to some stock market action now.
Finally we're seeing some positive turnaround after a rocky few days...or a rocky month.
The main index closed higher than yesterday.
Here's Kim Hyesung with a round-up of South Korean equity markets.
After some topsy-turvy mid-day trading, South Korea's main index closed at 20-29 Wednesday, up seven-tenths of a percent from the previous close... and marking a second day of gains.
The tech-heavy KOSDAQ also rose about zero-point-seven percent... thanks to gains overnight on Wall Street.
"But then again, October was a brutal month for South Korean stocks… with the main KOSPI index falling by about 14 percent, or 229 billion U.S. dollars,... which is the worst monthly drop since the 2008 global financial crisis."
It's also down more than 20 percent from its peak in January when it passed the 25-hundred mark.
In October, global equities saw a wipe-out of eight trillion dollars... on factors like the U.S. rate hike, the U.S.-China trade conflict and disappointing U.S. companies earnings.
Given that stock markets have a cycle of ups and downs, and that they've rallied for years on record-low interest rates and easy money,... some say markets are now in correction territory.
But, still, compared to major markets, South Korea's main index fell in October by the largest margin.
"The KOSPI fell 14 percent and the KOSDAQ over 20 percent. That's more than China's monthly loss of ten percent, the six percent in the U.S., and the MSCI emerging market's average of ten percent loss. Putting particular pressure on local markets have been concerns that the U.S.-China trade conflict will hurt Korea's export oriented economy and its IT sector."
To help stabilize the market, South Korea's financial authorities announced a series of measures early this week, which will include the injection of a 428 million dollar fund into undervalued stocks. Such announcements helped lift the KOSPI back above the two-thousand level, but experts say stocks are likely to remain sluggish for some time.
"Stocks reflect an expectation about future growth. But now, investment and economic growth are slowing down and Korea's manufacturing sector is losing competitiveness. There is no new sector with bright prospects right now."
And with the U.S.-China trade spat still weighing on markets, creating global uncertainties,... experts say local and global stocks are unlikely to go back to pre-October levels at least until the U.S.-China summit at the G20 in Argentina in November... and that's if the two sides do reach an agreement.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.