This photo, taken Monday, shows the trading room of Hana Bank in Seoul as South Korean stocks rose more than 4 percent to top the 7,800-point mark for a new record high. Photo by Yonhap
South Korean stocks closed at a new record high Monday, easily breaching the landmark 7,800-point level, extending the winning streak to the fifth consecutive session, on the back of a bull run by semiconductor shares, despite concerns of a potentially botched peace deal between the United States and Iran.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) surged 324.24 points, or 4.32 percent, to end at a fresh high of 7,822.24 after rising as high as 7899.32.
The index delivered a record-breaking run for the fifth consecutive session, heading toward the unprecedented 8,000-point milestone.
With the bull run, the combined market capitalization of the KOSPI and the secondary bourse KOSDAQ surpassed 7,000 trillion won (US$4.75 trillion) for the first time in history Monday.
The combined market cap of the KOSPI and KOSDAQ topped 4,000 trillion won on Jan. 2 and surged to above 6,000 trillion won on April 27.
On Monday alone, investors traded 723.4 million shares worth 50.2 trillion won.
Retail investors and institutions scooped up local shares worth 2.9 trillion won and 630 billion won, respectively, offsetting a 3.5 trillion-won sell-off by foreigners.
Monday’s surge was largely driven by a sharp rise in large-cap chip shares, despite concerns the peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran are on the cusp of falling apart.
Earlier in the day, U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran’s peace offer is unacceptable, fueling fears the Middle East crisis will continue.
But investors’ risk-on appetite was buoyed by optimism over continued growth of the semiconductor demand in line with the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure investment cycle and the recent tech gains on Wall Street, according to Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities.
The analyst said South Korea’s monthly chip exports are forecast to reach an all-time high in May.
Seoul’s chip exports surged nearly 150 percent from a year earlier in the first 10 days of this month to a record high of $8.54 billion, government data showed earlier in the day.
On Friday (local time), major U.S. stock indexes closed higher, driven by a surge in chip and AI shares.
Micron soared 15.49 percent, AMD jumped 11.44 percent, and Nvidia rose 1.75 percent.
Lee said, however, the KOSPI is continuing to get a boost from gains in a limited number of semiconductor and other big-cap shares.
On Monday, 735 companies lost ground on the KOSPI, while only 147 companies gained ground.
Market top-cap Samsung Electronics soared 6.33 percent to 285,500 won, and its chipmaking rival skyrocketed 11.51 percent to 1.88 million won, both reaching the highest-ever mark.
AI investment firm SK Square jumped 8.11 percent to 1.19 million won.
Auto giant Hyundai Motor climbed 5.38 percent to 646,000 won, while its sister Kia escalated 6.2 percent to 174,700 won. Its auto parts-making affiliate, Hyundai Mobis, expanded 8.64 percent to 553,000 won.
Shipbuilders were also bullish on news that South Korea and the U.S. signed a memorandum of understanding to advance bilateral shipbuilding cooperation.
HD Hyundai Heavy rose 4.1 percent to 685,000 won, Hanwha Ocean added 3.49 percent to 130,500 won, and HD Korea Shipbuilding gained 4.87 percent to 474,000 won.
On the other hand, electrical shares lost ground on profit-taking sentiment after the sector’s recent rally.
HD Hyundai Electric dropped 2.92 percent to 1.36 million won, and LS Electric went down 2.88 percent to 304,000 won.
Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution dipped 1.78 percent to 468,000 won, and power plant manufacturer Doosan Enerbility pulled back 1.23 percent to 128,000 won.
The Korean won was quoted at 1,472.4 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., down 0.7 won from the previous session.
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