Fine dust that engulfed the Korean Peninsula in recent days and the following government contingency measures have stirred sharp upward moves Monday in the stock prices of South Korean producers of home appliances like air purifiers and humidifiers.

Air purifier maker Coway, listed on the top-tier Kospi, jumped 3.2 percent from the previous trading day. Another purifier maker Dayou Winia, trading on the second-tier Kosdaq, climbed up 6.5 percent.

The share price increase was also seen for other firms that are expected to see demand rise due to the worsening air quality here.

Kyung Dong Navien, which makes water heaters and gas boilers, traded on Kosdaq 7 percent higher than Friday in closing. Another Kosdaq-listed company Nano, maker of catalysts that selectively remove nitrogen oxide, skyrocketed 20.8 percent. KC Cottrell, Kospi-listed pollution control device maker for enterprises, shot up 6.6 percent.

Not all such firms held onto their morning gains. Recording a 52-week high in early morning trading, up 12.4 percent from Friday, air purifier and humidifier maker Winix closed merely 1.6 percent higher.

Opening over 10 percent higher than the Friday closing, Clean & Science a Kosdaq-listed cabin air filter maker remained flat in the closing.

Meanwhile, markets as a whole recovered from Friday routs. In Monday closing, Kospi and Kosdaq rose 0.8 percent and 2.9 percent from Friday.

At 9 a.m. Monday, the level of particulate matter between 2.5-10 micrometers in diameter reached 102 micrograms per cubic meter in Seoul. A day prior, the Seoul Metropolitan Government had its public parking spaces shut down and ordered vehicles used by public workers with plate numbers ending with an odd number to stay off the road on Monday.

By Son Ji-hyoung 
(consnow@heraldcorp.com)