Number of S.Korean Companies With Over 1 Trillion Won Market Cap Exceeds 400

SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- The number of South Korean-listed companies whose market capitalization surpassed 1 trillion won (US$679.7 million) exceeded 400 for the first time this year, following a dramatic pre-Middle East-conflict recovery in the stock market, data showed Sunday. The number of companies listed on the local bourse, including preferred shares, with a market capitalization of over 1 trillion won stood at 405 as of Wednesday, according to the data from the Korea Exchange, South Korea's main bourse operator. By market, 267 were listed on the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), 137 were from the tech-heavy KOSDAQ and one from KONEX, the local exchange for small and medium-sized enterprises and venture firms. Of these, 79 firms had a market capitalization of over 10 trillion won. This marks a dramatic turnaround compared to Feb 27, just before the U.S. and Israel initiated strikes on Iran. At that time the number of companies with over 1 trillion won in market capitalization stood at 377. South Korea's stock market has been on a bullish run recently on a revived artificial intelligence (AI) rally ahead of the corporate earnings season. After falling as low as 12 percent in a single session since the onset of the war, the benchmark KOSPI closed at 6,690.9 points on Wednesday, the highest on-record.