Polarization in Korean stocks deepened as return of capital into Kospi stayed restricted to IT blue-chips, whereas the bulk touched new bottoms for three to five years, data showed.

The Kospi bourse on Friday ended 2,243.59, gaining 3.15 percent from the beginning of the year, pulling off half of last year’s full-year rise of 7.7 percent. Gainers however were restricted to large-cap index that jumped 4.33 percent.

The index of mid-cap stocks fell 3.6 percent and the category of small-caps down 2.0 percent.

Large-cap stocks also were mixed as renewed investment primarily cherry-picked on IT names.

Out of top 400 in terms of market cap, 72 touched three-year lows this year, and 50 five-year lows, according to Yuanta Securities Korea Co. Kospi-listed stocks took up 274 of the total, and the rest were Kosdaq-listed firms.

Among the stocks testing new three-year lows, 69 were Kospi names, and only three were on the Kosdaq.

“The Kospi yielded 15 percent in a year, but the gain was mainly driven by only a few stocks leaving a majority of stocks underperform,” said Kim Gwang-hyun, analyst at Yuanta Securities Korea.

Investor picks were mostly chipmakers, IT firms and battery names. These stocks recovered to the level before the fall triggered by the virus outbreak, but most of others not.

Samsung Electronics shares closed at 61,800 won ($52.33) on Friday, slightly higher than the closing price of 61,300 won on Jan. 17. Shares of LG Chem and Samsung SDI rose more, compare to a month ago.

By Park In-hye, Ahn Gab-seong and Lee Ha-yeon

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