The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index(KOSPI) breached the three-thousand-300 mark during early trading on Wednesday, notching a fresh record high for the year.

The KOSPI broke the year's previous peak of three-thousand-288 recorded on July 31 during morning-hour trading, surpassing three-thousand-300 for the first time in four years and two months.

The main bourse, which opened the day at three-thousand-270-point-two, up 12-point-15 points from Tuesday's closing, continued to expand the gains.

Shares in finance, securities and construction were showing upward tendencies, while those in textile, culture and chemicals were bearish.

Analysts attributed the rise to anticipation the government will ease up on stock transfer taxation after the presidential office said this week that it was reconsidering a proposal on lowering the tax criteria for major shareholders from five billion won, or around three-point-six million U.S. dollars, per stock item to one billion won.

A tech stock rally on Wall Street overnight and rising expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut were also cited as factors.

The tech-heavy KOSDAQ also topped the 830 threshold for the first time since July 2024.