The era of the "9,000-point market" is on the horizon, with index gains approaching 100% since the beginning of the year. The driving force behind this surge is an artificial intelligence (AI) rally. Investment is rapidly concentrating across the entire AI value chain, extending beyond major semiconductor companies like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to include materials, components, equipment, and power infrastructure. Since the start of the year, over 2.7 quadrillion won has flowed into the AI value chain, with more than 200 trillion won identified as excluding the so-called "Samjeon Nix" companies.
According to the Korea Exchange, from January 2 to June 16, the KRX K-AI Semiconductor TOP2+ index surged by 250.02%, marking the highest return among KRX indices. This increase reflects the strong performance of AI semiconductor value chain companies, including Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Hanmi Semiconductor, Rino Industry, Isu Petasys, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics. During the same period, the KOSPI index rose by 107.08%, while the KOSDAQ saw a modest increase of 10.07%.
Notably, the benefits of AI investment have expanded beyond semiconductors to power infrastructure. The KRX-Akros AI Power Infrastructure index increased by 89.79% during the same timeframe. This index, composed of companies such as HD Hyundai Electric, LS Electric, Hyosung Heavy Industries, Sanil Electric, and Korea Electric Wire, does not overlap with the K-AI Semiconductor TOP2+ index.
The increase in market capitalization is also significant. The market capitalization of the KRX AI Semiconductor index, which encompasses the AI semiconductor ecosystem including HBM, has risen by approximately 2,634 trillion won since the beginning of the year. Similarly, the KRX-Akros AI Power Infrastructure index has seen an increase of about 97 trillion won. Combined, the market capitalization growth of these two indices amounts to 2,731 trillion won. Even when excluding the 2,519 trillion won increase from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, over 200 trillion won has flowed into the upstream industries of the value chain, including materials, components, and power infrastructure.
Individual stocks have also demonstrated the expansion of the value chain. In addition to Samsung Electronics (186.07%) and SK Hynix (265.90%), SK Square (307.88%) and Doosan Tesna (182.52%) have seen substantial gains. In the power infrastructure sector, Sanil Electric (95.23%), Gaon Cable (218.57%), LS Electric (179.89%), and Doosan Fuel Cell (170.71%) have recorded high returns.
A securities industry official commented, "The spillover effects of the AI value chain are evident in the stock market, as demand for GPUs and HBM increases, leading to expansions in servers and data centers, power grid construction, and investments in industrial robots."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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