South Korea's benchmark KOSPI surged to touch the 7,400 mark at a blistering pace, just 47 trading days after breaking above 6,000 on February 25 this year. Despite the major headwind of Middle East war risks, the index rewrote history on the back of a semiconductor rally, with analysts saying the "Korea Premium" has now taken hold in earnest.
According to the Korea Exchange on Thursday, the KOSPI closed at 7,384.56, up 447.57 points, or 6.45%, from the previous session. The index climbed as high as 7,426.60 intraday, triggering the seventh sidecar of the year, a temporary suspension of program buy orders. The day's point gain was the second-largest ever, following the 490.36-point jump on March 5 this year. Market capitalization reached a record 6,058 trillion won. The KOSPI's year-to-date gain of 75.2% is by far the highest among G20 nations.
Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK hynix (000660.KS), the top two stocks by market cap, led the rally. Semiconductor shares surged as falling oil prices on Middle East ceasefire hopes combined with continued artificial intelligence (AI) momentum. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix ended the day at 266,000 won and 1.601 million won, up 14.41% and 10.64% respectively from the previous session, earning the nicknames "266,000-won Samsung" and "1.6 million-won hynix." Samsung Electronics posted its largest single-day gain since April 1 this year (13.40%), becoming the second Asian company to join the "trillion-dollar market cap club."
Boosted by the bull market, the National Pension Service (NPS), which had increased its allocation to domestic stocks, saw its fund size surpass 1,700 trillion won for the first time, a record high. Given that the fund stood at about 1,473 trillion won at the end of last year, NPS has generated returns of more than 250 trillion won in just four months this year. That is nearly equal to the 260 trillion won in profits the fund earned during all of last year.
"Reaching 7,000 on the KOSPI is a new starting point. It is not merely about index gains but signals that the fundamental strength of our capital market has been structurally reinforced," Korea Exchange Chairman Jeong Eun-bo said. "I believe the era of 10,000 is not far away."
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