South Korean stocks opened higher for a fourth straight session. The benchmark KOSPI briefly climbed above 6,500 soon after the open, extending its run of record highs to a third day, led by gains in chip heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
According to the Korea Exchange, the KOSPI was up 121.87 points, or 1.90%, at 6,539.80 as of 9:28 a.m. It opened up 70.90 points, or 1.10%, at 6,488.83 and then added to gains.
The index crossed 6,500 around 9:01 a.m. and continued to rise on institutional buying.
Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said the market was likely to be supported by fresh record highs in U.S. stocks led by key sectors such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors, along with expectations for first-quarter results from domestic market leaders. She said attention would focus on the direction of semiconductor shares.
Overnight, all three major U.S. indexes closed higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 340.65 points, or 0.69%, to 49,490.03. The S&P 500 gained 73.89 points, or 1.05%, to 7,137.90, and the Nasdaq advanced 397.603 points, or 1.64%, to 24,657.567.
Investor sentiment improved after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would extend a ceasefire, citing divisions inside Iran, the report said.
In the main market, individuals were net sellers of 781.2 billion won, while foreigners and institutions were net buyers of 233.3 billion won and 594.6 billion won, respectively.
Among top market-cap stocks, Samsung Electronics rose 4.60%, SK Hynix gained 3.35%, Hyundai Motor added 0.18%, SK Square climbed 4.86%, Doosan Enerbility advanced 5.35% and Samsung Biologics edged up 0.06%. LG Energy Solution fell 3.72%, Hanwha Aerospace slipped 0.42% and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries dropped 3.90%.
Samsung Electronics was trading at 227,750 won as of 9:35 a.m., up 10,250 won, or 4.71%, from the previous session, setting a record high.
The tech-heavy KOSDAQ was down 5.30 points, or 0.45%, at 1,175.82 at the same time. It opened up 7.98 points, or 0.68%, at 1,189.10 but turned lower on foreign selling.
In the KOSDAQ market, foreigners and institutions were net sellers of 161.8 billion won and 78.4 billion won, while individuals were net buyers of 249.7 billion won.
Among top KOSDAQ stocks, EcoPro fell 2.25%, EcoPro BM lost 2.29%, Samchundang Pharm dropped 4.84% and HLB slid 1.32%. Rainbow Robotics rose 2.18%, Lino Industrial gained 3.41% and ABL Bio added 0.93%.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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