Kospi surges 6% to reclaim 6,850 level as SK hynix unveils massive shareholder return plan

The Kospi surged nearly 6% on Thursday to reclaim the 6,850 level, driven by a wave of buying in large-cap semiconductor stocks after SK hynix announced a 40 trillion won ($28.5 billion) shareholder return program.

Korea Exchange data showed the benchmark index closed at 6,852.58, up 381.41 points, or 5.89%, from the previous session.

The index opened up 209.17 points, or 3.23%, at 6,680.34 and extended its gains throughout the day, briefly touching 6,904.55 — crossing the 6,900 threshold during intraday trading.

As the rally accelerated, a buy-side sidecar was triggered on the main bourse at around 9:57 a.m. — the 49th such circuit breaker activation on the Kospi this year.

Foreign investors led the advance, posting net purchases of 1.71 trillion won on the main market. Retail investors and institutions, by contrast, were net sellers of 2.27 trillion won and 490.4 billion won, respectively.

At the center of Thursday's rally was SK hynix's shareholder return announcement. The chipmaker disclosed Wednesday that it would acquire and fully cancel 40 trillion won worth of its own shares — the largest such program ever announced by a listed company in South Korea.

SK hynix also raised its shareholder return target from "within 50% of cumulative free cash flow" to "50% or more," and said it would pursue regular dividends, special dividends and additional buybacks in parallel.

Analysts said the program would serve as a catalyst for further share price gains.

Lee Jong-wook, a researcher at Samsung Securities, estimated SK hynix's cumulative free cash flow for 2025 through 2027 at 220 trillion won. "Even after excluding the 54.9 trillion won already returned to shareholders since 2025, more than 15% of the current market cap will go toward shareholder returns," he said.

"The shareholder return program is a catalyst that supports the downside and highlights the upside potential of the share price," Lee added.

Large-cap semiconductor stocks surged across the board. Samsung Electronics closed up 9.49% at 271,000 won, while SK hynix jumped 12.73% to finish at 1.69 million won.

Among other top market-cap stocks, SK Square rose 11.85%, Samsung C&T gained 7.78% and Samsung Life climbed 7.61%.

KB Financial Group fell 3.85% and Kia declined 1.43%.

The Kosdaq closed up 16.43 points, or 1.99%, at 840.89. The index had opened 19.53 points, or 2.37%, higher at 843.99 before giving back some of its early gains.

On the Kosdaq, institutions were net buyers of 112.4 billion won and retail investors net buyers of 900 million won, while foreign investors posted net selling of 127.8 billion won.

Among top Kosdaq stocks by market cap, Alteogen rose 11.86%, ABL Bio gained 3.51% and Wonik PS advanced 4.21%.