The KOSPI index rose nearly 4% to surpass the 6800 mark, driven by strong buying from foreign and institutional investors. Major semiconductor stocks, including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, showed robust performance, with Samsung Electro-Mechanics surging over 13% to lead the index's gains.
As of 12:40 p.m. on August 13, the KOSPI was trading at 6840.20, up 261.16 points (3.97%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 6773.92, up 194.88 points (2.96%), and briefly reached 6895.63, nearing the 6900 level.
While individual investors sold a net 2.704 trillion won worth of stocks, foreign and institutional investors purchased a net 1.6525 trillion won and 444.1 billion won, respectively.
Most of the top market capitalization stocks were in the green. Samsung Electronics rose 4.99%, SK Hynix increased by 7.45%, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics climbed 13.26%. Other gainers included Hyundai Motor (up 2.93%) and LG Energy Solution (up 2.23%), while Samsung Life Insurance fell by 1.65%.
The strength in semiconductor stocks is attributed to expectations of increased investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. Kim Seok-hwan, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, noted, "The strong performance of AI infrastructure companies like CoreWeave and Supermicro has reaffirmed the demand for AI infrastructure investment." This has led to buying interest in semiconductor-related stocks, including Hanmi Semiconductor and DB HiTek.
Stocks related to multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) also performed well. Morgan Stanley projected that demand for MLCCs would surge due to expanded investments in AI data centers, predicting price strength to continue from the second half of this year into next year. Stocks such as Samsung Electro-Mechanics (up 13.26%), Samwha Capacitor (up 21.02%), and Amotech (up 5.72%) saw gains.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ index was trading at 867.73, up 8.82 points (1.03%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 863.15, up 4.24 points (0.49%), but initially showed mixed performance before rebounding, briefly surpassing 870 at 870.96.
Individual investors bought a net 168.9 billion won worth of stocks, while foreign and institutional investors sold a net 68.9 billion won and 89.8 billion won, respectively.
Most of the top KOSDAQ stocks were also performing well. Notable gainers included Alteogen (up 0.31%), EcoPro (up 2.30%), and Juseong Engineering (up 5.00%), while Reno Technology remained flat.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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