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By Anna J. Park
As the government has decided to lift its face mask guidelines for outdoor use, cosmetic company shares went up in the stock market, Friday.
The government announced Friday morning that the requirement to wear masks outdoors will be lifted on May 2. However, the mask requirement will be maintained for cases like rallies, performances or sports events where over 50 people are expected to gather ― both indoors and outdoors.
According to the Korea Exchange (KRX), the stock price of JayJun Cosmetic increased to 1,390 won ($1.10), as it hit a daily upper limit increase of 29.91 percent. Various other local cosmetics companies saw their prices soaring on Friday too. The stock price of Organic Tea Cosmetics went up by 15.76 percent, that of HanKook Cosmetics by 14 percent, that of Tonymoly by 8.98 percent, that of Leaders Cosmetics by 8.08 percent and that of Skinnskin by 5.47 percent.
The stock of Amorepacific, the largest market cap company in the domestic cosmetics industry scene, also rose by 1.69 percent on Friday, continuing its three-day winning streak. The stock soared by 9.2 percent on Thursday's closing due to the expectation that the lifting of the outdoor mask wearing requirement would benefit the company's business.
"With a non-mask lifestyle (expected to be) becoming the mainstream once again, the demand for cosmetics is expected to rise once more. The cosmetics industry is one of the representative sectors that will benefit from the requirement lifting trend," Park Hyun-jin, an analyst at Shinhan Financial Investment, said.
Besides cosmetics stocks, shares related to tourism, such as tour agencies and aviation companies, also rose in Friday's trading session. The price of Mode Tour and Hana Tour went up by 2.25 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively, at Friday's closing. Aviation stocks like Jin Air and Jeju Air also rose by 5.13 percent and 4.48 percent on Friday's session.
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