South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI on Monday broke past its previous high for the first time in about two months, lifted by heavy buying from foreign investors and institutions.
According to the Korea Exchange, the KOSPI closed up 169.38 points, or 2.72%, at 6,388.47, an all-time closing high. The index opened at 6,302.54, up 83.45 points, or 1.34%, from the previous session and extended gains through the day.
Lee Kyung-min, a researcher at Daishin Securities, said uncertainty has increased since Trump’s tariff announcement, weakening investor sentiment. He added that the domestic market has been sluggish because it has a high weighting in the auto industry and semiconductor sector.
In the main KOSPI market, foreigners were net buyers of 1.7355 trillion won and institutions bought a net 797.3 billion won. Retail investors sold a net 2.3432 trillion won.
Among the most heavily weighted stocks, Samsung Electronics rose 2.10%, SK hynix gained 4.97%, LG Energy Solution jumped 11.42%, Hyundai Motor advanced 3.61%, SK Square added 2.43% and Doosan Enerbility climbed 4.23%. Samsung Biologics fell 1.06% and Hanwha Aerospace slid 2.39%.
By sector, gains were led by electrical and electronics, up 3.87%, machinery and equipment, up 3.73%, chemicals, up 2.16%, financials, up 0.72%, and IT services, up 0.19%. Pharmaceuticals fell 1.40% and insurance slipped 0.01%.
The tech-heavy KOSDAQ closed up 4.18 points, or 0.36%, at 1,179.03. It opened at 1,186.23, up 11.38 points, or 0.97%, from the previous session.
In the KOSDAQ market, retail investors were net buyers of 583.9 billion won, while foreigners sold a net 389.3 billion won and institutions sold a net 124.7 billion won.
Among top KOSDAQ stocks, EcoPro rose 5.21%, EcoPro BM gained 5.00% and Lino Industrial added 1.63%. Alteogen fell 0.67%, Rainbow Robotics dropped 1.15%, Samchundang Pharm slipped 0.42% and ABL Bio declined 2.68%.
By sector, electrical and electronics rose 1.84%, machinery and equipment gained 2.79%, financials climbed 3.39%, chemicals added 1.39% and distribution rose 0.77%. Pharmaceuticals fell 2.27%, general services dropped 2.97% and IT services declined 0.92%.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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