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The Korea Herald
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THE INVESTOR
March 28, 2024

Finance

Kakao, Naver shares continue to surge amid prolonged virus battle

  • PUBLISHED :August 27, 2020 - 15:36
  • UPDATED :August 27, 2020 - 15:36
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Shares of South Korea’s top mobile messenger operator Kakao and top portal operator Naver continued their bullish run on the local stock market on August 27, on investors’ profit-taking drive from “untact” -- contactless -- sectors amid the second round of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kakao’s stock price began trading at 392,000 won ($330.38), then rose by 17,500 won, or 4.46 percent in afternoon trading. It once soared up to 412,500 won in early trading hours, jumping above 400,000 won-level for the first time since its market debut on the nation’s main bourse Kospi in July 2017.

Market watchers say that Kakao’s gaming arm’s September market debut on the nation’s tech-heavy Kosdaq appears to have excited investors with hopes for further price gain.

Shares of Naver, Korea’s leading portal giant, were also trading at 342,000 won, up 8,000 won, or 2.4 percent, from the previous session’s close. The stock price once also touched its 52-week high of 347,000 won, in the later morning. As its market capitalization rapidly increased, the firm’s ranking on Kospi climbed to No. 3, again beating the local biopharma company Samsung Biologics.



Both the untact shares have been on a bullish run for the fifth consecutive session. Based on their newest 52-week high, Kakao’s stock price climbed 13.17 percent from Aug. 20, when it closed at 364,500 won. Naver also added 13.58 percent from 305,500 won per share in the given period.

“On expectations of industrial shift (from manufacturing to IT) since the end-March, more investment funds have flowed to untact-related stocks,” Lee Jung-bin, an analyst at IBK Securities said.

Shares of Kakao and Naver will be less affected from market adjustments and have bigger rooms for further value growth, he added.

By Jie Ye-eun (yeeun@heraldcorp.com)

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