S. Korea's stock market cap hits US$1.2 tln

SEOUL, Aug. 1 (Yonhap) -- The total capitalization of South Korea's stock market reached US$1.2 trillion as of end-June as blue-chip prices surged amid strong exports, the bourse operator said Monday. The value of shares listed on main board and the tech-focused secondary market was up 9.9 percent from the end of 2010, the Korea Exchange (KRX) said, citing data from the World Federation of Exchanges. South Korea accounted for 2.1 percent of the total global stock market cap, ranking as the world's 17th-largest bourse, the KRX said. At the end of December, South Korea claimed 2 percent of the total world stock market cap and ranked as the 17th-largest bourse in the world. Over the cited period, the total market cap of global bourses rose 3.1 percent to $56.6 trillion, nearing a record $60.9 trillion set in the end of 2007. The robust growth of the local stock market cap was largely attributed to gains in shares of blue-chip exporters, who posted record profits on the back of brisk exports. The benchmark index of the country's main stock market gained 2.4 percent in the first half of the year from six months earlier.