S. Korea's stock market cap gains 3.6 pct in Q1

SEOUL, April 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's stock market value grew nearly 4 percent in the first quarter of the year on increased share prices of chemical firms, builders, transportation companies and game makers, a corporate tracker said Monday.

The combined market capitalization of 2,385 listed companies in Asia's fourth-largest economy came to 2,411 trillion (US$2.15 trillion) as of end-March, up 3.6 percent, or 84 trillion won, from the start of the year, according to CXO Institute.

Of the total listed companies, 60 percent saw their market value climb over the cited period.

The number of corporations with a market capitalization of 1 trillion won or more reached 242 as of the end of March, up 11 from Jan. 4.

Internet portal behemoth Naver recorded the largest market cap increase of 13.8 trillion won (28.7 percent), followed by its rival Kakao with 9.2 trillion won and No. 2 automaker Kia Motors with 7.7 trillion won.

The market value of top-cap Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chip maker and No. 2 smartphone firm, came to 485.9 trillion won, down 9.6 trillion won from three months earlier, according to CXO Institute.

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