South Korea’s main stock market posted a sharp drop in the share turnover rate in 2016, with the benchmark index stuck in a tight range, data showed Monday.

The Kospi’s turnover rate stood at 247.15 percent, down 39.84 percentage points from 2015, according to the Korea Exchange.

A stock turnover rate is a measure of stock liquidity, calculated by dividing the total number of transactions by the number of listed stocks. A higher turnover rate indicates high transaction levels relative to market size and increased frequency of day trading.

The daily trade volume in the Kospi market also declined 17 percent on-year to 377 million shares in 2016. A share was traded 2.5 times on average in the year.

It’s apparently attributable to a decrease in individual investors’ trading as the Kospi stayed near the 2,000-point mark.

In contrast, the turnover rate of shares in the secondary Kosdaq market rose 17.56 percentage points to 539.55 percent last year, which means average trading of 5.4 times per stock.

It reflects investors’ interest in the stocks of smaller and tech businesses. (Yonhap)