Seoul: The country's stock market will continue its upward move, with the benchmark index widely anticipated to top the 5,000-point threshold, a senior financial regulator said Tuesday. The country's benchmark index, the KOSPI, has been on a bull run this year, breaching the 4,200-point level, a record high, on Monday after breaking through 3,000 points in June.

According to Yonhap News Agency, since June, the KOSPI has risen over 56 percent. The index stood at 4,164.97 as of 10:31 a.m., down 56.90 points, or 1.35 percent, from the previous session's close, as investors attempted to cash in recent gains.

In a radio interview, Kwon Dae-young, vice chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), said policies aimed at making the market fair and transparent, as well as efforts to protect shareholder value, are supported at home and abroad, and they are behind the market's recent rally.

Kwon stated, "What's more important is that corporate earnings are on an upside cycle, and many uncertainties have substantially eased after the APEC meeting," referring to the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit held in the country's southeastern city of Gyeongju.

Seoul and Washington finalized an agreement last week on the details of Seoul's US$350 billion pledge made in exchange for lower U.S. tariffs during summit talks between President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump, with final coordination underway to release joint documents.

As to the possibility of the KOSPI topping the 5,000-point level, Kwon said it will be surely possible, and the country's stock market will continue its upward march.