The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index(KOSPI) set a new record for the year on Wednesday thanks to foreign buying.

The KOSPI gained zero-point-86 point, or zero-point-04 percent, to close at two-thousand-44-point-64, setting yearly records for three straight days and closing higher for the fifth consecutive session.

With the gain, the combined market capitalization of companies listed on the local stock markets also reached a new high of one-point-three quadrillion won.

Investor sentiment toward risk assets seemed to have strengthened as oil prices stopped dropping sharply. The recent upgrade in the country’s sovereign credit rating to a record high AA by Standard & Poor's also appears to have had positive effects on foreigners’ investment sentiment.

On the foreign exchange market, the local currency strengthened ten-point-seven won against the U.S. dollar to one-thousand-95-point-four won.

It was the first time in about 13 months that the local currency closed below the one-thousand-100-won level against the U.S. dollar.