Mobile stock trading hits all-time high in 2015

SEOUL, Jan. 18 (Yonhap) -- Stock transactions via mobile gadgets grew to a record high last year, as an increasing number of retail investors have turned to smartphones and tablets for trading, the bourse operator said Monday.

An average of 248.87 million shares were traded through the country's mobile trading system per day on the main bourse in 2015, accounting for 27.33 percent of the total, according to the Korea Exchange (KRX).

It more than doubled from 119.55 million shares traded per day in the previous year, the KRX said, noting that the ratio has been on a steady rise over the past several years from 3.47 percent in 2010 to 14.97 percent in 2012 and to 21.5 percent in 2014.

The tech-laden KOSDAQ market also saw a surge in the portion of mobile trading last year to 30.11 percent, or 363.99 million shares, from the previous year's 24.35 percent, the KRX said.

"The increasing trading volume on mobile platforms is thanks to the widespread use of smartphones and trading applications offered by local brokerage houses," a KRX official said.

The growth in mobile trading pushed down the proportion of stock trading via the home trading system (HTS) and other trading terminals, according to the KRX.

HTS took up 53.47 percent of total trading in the main KOSPI market, down from 73.15 percent logged in 2009, while the figure for the KOSDAQ market skidded to 57.95 percent in 2015 from 86.01 percent in 2009, the KRX said.

graceoh@yna.co.kr
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