The KOSPI index surged past the 8,800 mark during trading on June 1, driven by strong institutional buying. Starting at around 8,400, the index quickly climbed to a record high within two hours of the market opening, buoyed by purchases of major stocks such as Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T, and LG Group shares.
As of 10:53 a.m. KST, the KOSPI was trading at 8,823.17, up 347.02 points (4.09%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 8,485.67, up 9.52 points (0.11%), and continued its steep ascent.
In the securities market, institutions led the rise by net buying 1.6976 trillion won worth of stocks, while individuals purchased 152.4 billion won. Conversely, foreign investors were net sellers, offloading 1.7467 trillion won worth of shares.
Market analysts noted that the surge in Samsung Electronics, along with increased buying in sectors related to artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and power infrastructure, contributed to the overall market momentum. Samsung Electronics saw a rise of over 9%, reaching a new all-time high, while Samsung C&T (up 8.90%), Doosan Enerbility (up 4.36%), Hyundai Motor (up 2.90%), and Samsung Life (up 5.41%) also performed strongly. Other stocks like SK Hynix (up 1.54%), SK Square (up 2.68%), and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (up 1.29%) also showed gains. However, Samsung Electro-Mechanics (down 4.84%) and LG Energy Solution (down 1.64%) faced declines.
Notably, stocks in the AI and robotics sectors experienced significant gains, including Doosan Robotics (up 29.95%), LG Electronics (up 27.13%), LG Electronics Preferred (up 25.18%), Samsung SDS (up 24.58%), LG HelloVision (up 23.41%), LG CNS (up 23.20%), and SKC (up 19.74%).
Kim Seok-hwan, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, commented, “With expectations surrounding Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, visiting Korea this week, there has been a surge in buying across LG Group stocks such as LG Electronics, LG CNS, and LG Innotek. This aligns with a reevaluation of the physical AI industry’s value, leading to increased interest in the robotics theme.” He added, “The momentum from large overseas orders for power infrastructure companies is also supporting the market’s rise.”
Meanwhile, the KOSDAQ index was trading at 1,052.61, down 22.19 points (2.06%) at the same time. Foreign investors net bought 283.2 billion won, while individuals and institutions net sold 267.9 billion won and 8.1 billion won, respectively. Among the top market capitalization stocks, Rainbow Robotics (up 13.39%) and HLB (up 0.39%) saw gains, while EcoPro BM (down 3.69%), Alteogen (down 1.49%), EcoPro (down 4.68%), JUSUNG Engineering (down 6.05%), and Peptron (down 6.64%) faced declines.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.