Semiconductors drive KOSPI to new record high

The KOSPI reached another record high on its second trading day of the year, climbing to 4,457.52 on January 5. During the session, Samsung Electronics shares hit 130,000 won, while SK hynix rose to 700,000 won.

The index closed at 4,457.52, up 147.89 points, or 3.43 percent, from the previous session. Just a day after surpassing 4,300 on January 2, it broke through 4,400 and approached 4,500. Retail investors sold a net 1.4382 trillion won, and institutions sold 836.4 billion won, but foreign investors bought a net 2.2613 trillion won, pushing the market higher. This marked the largest net foreign buying since October 2 of last year, when they purchased a net 3.2641 trillion won.

The market rally this year is being driven by semiconductors. Samsung Electronics rose 7.17 percent on January 2 and 7.47 percent on January 5. Its preferred shares gained 8.05 percent, while SK hynix advanced 2.81 percent and SK Square climbed 6.12 percent.

By the close, Samsung Electronics’ market capitalization, including preferred shares, reached 900.7314 trillion won, surpassing 900 trillion won for the first time. This made it the 17th largest publicly listed company globally and the fourth largest in Asia, trailing only Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Saudi Aramco, and China’s Tencent. SK hynix also crossed a market cap of 500 trillion won.

“Expectations for expanded artificial intelligence infrastructure investment and improved memory chip earnings have continued to boost major semiconductor companies," said Lee Kyung-min, a researcher at Daishin Securities.


홍석호 기자 will@donga.com