The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index(KOSPI) rose 54-point-48 points, or one-point-67 percent, Wednesday to close at a record high of three-thousand-314-point-53.

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 and set a fresh high for the year before setting the record.

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 gained eight-point-18 points, or zero-point-99 percent, to close at 833.