The dealing room display board at Hana Bank’s headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, shows the Kospi index closing at 7,490.05, up 105.49 points, or 1.43%, from the previous session to mark a record high on Nov. 7. Yonhap News
The KOSPI closed at a record high of 7,490 on Tuesday, briefly crossing the 7,500 threshold during the session. Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK hynix (000660.KS) led the advance, with shares topping 270,000 won and 1.65 million won, respectively.
According to the Korea Exchange, the KOSPI ended 105.49 points, or 1.43%, higher at 7,490.05. The index opened firmer and climbed to an intraday peak of 7,531.88, setting a fresh all-time high, before paring some gains amid intraday volatility.
Retail investors drove the rally with net purchases of 5.99 trillion won ($4.4 billion), while institutions added 1.10 trillion won ($810 million) worth of buying. Foreigners, by contrast, booked profits by net selling a record 7.17 trillion won ($5.3 billion).
Large-cap stocks were broadly stronger. Samsung Electronics closed 2.07% higher at 271,500 won, settling firmly above the 270,000 mark, while SK hynix gained 3.31% to 1.654 million won. SK Square (0.92%), Hyundai Motor (4.00%) and LG Energy Solution (0.21%) also advanced.
Doosan Enerbility (7.40%) and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (6.94%) posted particularly strong gains, reflecting sector rotation within the market. On the other hand, some stocks including Samsung Electronics preferred shares (-2.06%) and Samsung Biologics (-0.81%) weakened on profit-taking.
Market sentiment was underpinned by expectations of a recovery in the semiconductor cycle and continued demand growth from expanding artificial intelligence (AI) investments. However, the large-scale foreign selling has raised the possibility of increased short-term volatility.
Analysts point to the possibility of a breather following the short-term surge but say the medium- to long-term uptrend remains intact. With earnings momentum led by semiconductors and expectations of foreign capital inflows still in place, attention is focused on whether the KOSPI’s rally can extend further.
“Foreign-led profit-taking emerged amid the KOSPI’s sharp surge, but the uptrend is continuing,” said Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities. “Amid hopes for a U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement, sector rotation has been unfolding, and in the afternoon session, large-cap semiconductors led the advance.”
