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An electronic board in Seoul shows the Kospi closing above 4,000 points on November 5. / Source: Yonhap News

The Kospi’s surge past the 4,000-point mark has only deepened the market’s concentration in large-cap stocks. New data show that the five largest conglomerates — Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, LG and HD Hyundai — now account for more than half of the total market capitalization.

According to corporate analysis firm Leaders Index on November 11, the combined market cap of 368 listed companies belonging to designated large business groups jumped from 1,661.7387 trillion won on January 2 to 3,030.5177 trillion won on November 3, an increase of 1,369 trillion won, or 82.4%.

Over the same period, the total market capitalization of the Korean stock market — including the Kospi, Kosdaq and Konex — rose from 2,310.9938 trillion won to 3,963.1134 trillion won, up 71.5%.

Within that universe, the share taken by the five top groups (Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, LG and HD Hyundai) climbed from 45.9% to 52.2%, an increase of 6.3 percentage points.

In particular, the semiconductor supercycle has sent share prices of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix soaring, pushing the combined market-cap share of the Samsung and SK groups close to 40% of the entire market.

Samsung Group, the market’s largest player, saw the combined value of its seven listed affiliates jump from 503.7408 trillion won to 943.4862 trillion won, an 87.3% increase. Its share of the overall market rose from 21.8% to 23.8%.

SK Group’s 21 listed companies saw an even steeper rise, with their market cap surging from 200.3384 trillion won to 572.3577 trillion won, up 185.7%. SK’s share of total market cap climbed 5.8 percentage points from 8.7% to 14.4%.

Within the top five groups, Hyundai Motor Group overtook LG Group to take third place, while Doosan newly entered the top 10 by market cap. LG slipped from third to fourth.

The combined market value of Doosan’s seven listed affiliates skyrocketed 243.6%, from 26.1936 trillion won to 90.0094 trillion won, lifting the group’s ranking from 12th to 7th. Strong share-price gains in Doosan Enerbility and holding company Doosan were cited as the main drivers.

Hyosung Group’s 11 listed companies also saw their market cap leap from 7.2596 trillion won to 27.2498 trillion won, up 275.4%. The group’s ranking climbed from 29th to 15th, putting it on the verge of breaking into the top 10.

By contrast, HL Group’s market cap fell 6.5%, from 2.3989 trillion won to 2.2420 trillion won, dropping its ranking from 46th to 56th. Krafton’s market value declined from 15.1625 trillion won to 13.22466 trillion won, while Taeyoung Group’s fell from 1.2530 trillion won to 949.4 billion won.