S. Korean stocks among the fastest to emerge from Lehman shock

SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's stock market is one of only four to have
recovered to levels seen before the collapse of U.S. banking giant Lehman
Brothers last year, the bourse operator said Monday.

According to the Korea Exchange (KRX), Korean stocks gained 7.98 percent as of
the end of August from the same period last year, two weeks before a bankruptcy
filing by the investment bank triggered a wide-ranging global financial crisis.
Local stocks posted the biggest gain among 30 member states of the Organization
for Economic Co-operation and Development after a 16.83 percent jump by Turkey,
KRX said.
Mexican and Swedish shares also posted positive increases during the one-year
period, while Japanese and U.S. stocks remained at 19.74 percent and 17.74
percent lower than a year earlier, respectively, according to the bourse
operator.
Experts said the local turnaround in stock prices mirrors a fast recovery in
South Korea's economic fundamentals.
"The faster revival was fed by timely stimulus policies as well as local IT and
auto firms that boosted their competitiveness amid the global market
reconfiguration," said Hwang Chang-joong, an analyst at Woori Investment &
Securities Co.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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