The valuation of the South Korean stock market has risen 2.7 percent in the first quarter of this year from the end of last year, falling behind other global stock markets that logged an over 4 percent gain, according to Bloomberg data Sunday.

Buttressed by ample liquidity, the combined market cap of 86 nations came to some $107.86 trillion as of Wednesday, up 4.5 percent from $103.23 trillion marked at the end of last year. The market size of global stock markets fluctuated widely in the January-March period but ended up returning gains to investors around the globe.

From the figure seen at end-2020, the market value increased to $107.77 trillion as of Jan. 21 but fell to $103.54 trillion at the month-end. It rose again to a yearly-high of $110.85 trillion as of Feb. 16, however, shrank to $105.53 trillion as of March 9. Recent data showed there has been an upward movement observed from then onwards.

Analysis showed that the growth was largely attributed to the central bank’s continuous monetary easing globally in the aftermath of COVID-19 and a bullish run in the US stock market, which makes up more than half of the world’s stock market capitalization.

Zimbabwe saw the biggest jump in market size by 68.6 percent. Ukraine came next with 44.1 percent, followed by Lebanon and Ghana with 33.7 percent and 33 percent, respectively.

Major nations such as Canada (9.8 percent), Russia (8 percent), Germany (7 percent), US (6.4 percent), Italy (6 percent) and UK (5.7 percent) also showed higher rates in their market values than the global average growth.

Among the 86 countries, South Korea’s market value growth ranked No. 43, as it rose by 2.7 percent in the given period. The market values of other emerging territories, such as Vietnam (11.8 percent), Taiwan (10.5 percent), India (8.7 percent) and Thailand (8.1 percent) also increased.

On the contrary, China’s stock market slumped as its market size decreased by 2 percent from the previous quarter. Venezuela’s market cap nosedived 72.9 percent amid a severe economic crisis and political and social disruptions. Other 27 nations, including Argentina (-18.4 percent), Turkey (-10.8 percent) and Portugal (-9.9 percent) saw falls in their market valuations.

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