South Korea's key share index is seen making only modest gains this year as persistent debt problems in Europe and a weakening global economic outlook keep investors cautious, a Reuters poll found.
The median forecast from a survey of 12 strategists in a poll taken over the past week was for the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) to rise 17 percent to 2,075 points by the end of December from Thursday's close of 1,769 points.
Forecasts for end-2011 ranged from 1,700 to 2,300 points with the median 275 points below the 2,350 seen in a June poll.
That would also bring the KOSPI, which is down 14 percent on the year so far, to an annual gain of 1.2 percent, following a 22 percent surge in 2010 and a 50 percent gain in 2009.
"Fragility of global economic health, particularly in Europe and the US, are issues of such nature that are not likely to be resolved within a short period of time," said Lee Seung-woo, an analyst at Daewoo Securities.
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