The KOSPI surged past the 8,800 level intraday, pushing its total market capitalization above 7,000 trillion won for the first time. Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) became the first single stock to exceed 2,000 trillion won in market cap, lifted by expectations of expanding artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand and improving memory market conditions.
According to the Korea Exchange on Wednesday, the KOSPI closed at 8,788.38, up 312.23 points or 3.68% from the previous session, setting another all-time high. The index jumped as high as 8,826.61 during the day, triggering the eleventh sidecar of the year, which temporarily halts program buy orders. Total market capitalization stood at 7,204.5093 trillion won at the close. The market remained steady even after news broke during trading hours that Iran had declared retaliation against the US military.
The rally was driven by Samsung Electronics, the top semiconductor stock and the largest company by market value. Analysts attributed the surge to an unprecedented spike in demand for memory chips. Samsung Electronics finished at 349,000 won, up 10.09% from the previous session. The company's market capitalization (excluding Samsung Electronics preferred shares) reached 2,040.3512 trillion won, marking the first time a single company has surpassed 2,000 trillion won. It came just one trading session after the figure crossed 2,000 trillion won including preferred shares. The combined market cap including preferred shares swelled by nearly 200 trillion won in a single day to 2,224.0942 trillion won.
SK hynix (000660.KS) also closed up 1.29% at 2.363 million won. Tailwinds also lifted LG Electronics (29.86%) and Naver (16.03%) on expectations of meetings with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Securities analysts said the market is likely to continue revolving around AI chip stocks for the time being, with major events such as Nvidia's annual AI conference "GTC Taipei" on the horizon.
