Kospi reclaims 7,000 as Samsung Electronics surges past 270,000 won

The Kospi reclaimed the 7,000 mark on Monday, driven by a rally in large-cap semiconductor stocks — the first time in seven trading sessions since Sept. 10.

The benchmark index closed up 1.65% at 7,007.72, compared with Sunday's close.

It opened up 0.64% at 6,938.34 and oscillated around the 7,000 level throughout the session before holding its gains.

On the Kospi market, retail investors and foreign investors net sold 2.99 trillion won ($2.16 billion) and 165.5 billion won, respectively. Institutional investors net bought 1.5 trillion won.

Other corporations — which have recently emerged as a major force in the market on the back of large-scale buybacks by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix — net bought 1.64 trillion won.

Samsung Electronics surged 4.98% to close at 274,000 won.

The stock opened up 1.15% at 264,000 won and steadily extended its gains, at one point trading as high as 275,000 won, a rise of 5.36%.

It was the first time in 10 trading sessions that Samsung Electronics closed above the 270,000-won mark, having last done so at 270,000 won on Sept. 7.

SK hynix closed up 0.59% at 1.87 million won. The stock briefly surged to 1.89 million won, a gain of 1.67%, shortly after the open, but gave back some of those gains as it fluctuated through the session.

US stocks ended mixed on Friday, the last trading day of the previous week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.18%, while the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.17% and 0.39%, respectively.

Semiconductor stocks were a particular bright spot. Nvidia (+1.34%), Broadcom (+2.97%), AMD (+2.70%) and Micron (+3.92%) all advanced.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index extended its rally, jumping 2.78% after surging 3.14% on Sunday — two consecutive sessions of sharp gains.

With no major market-moving events over the weekend or holiday period, the bullish momentum carried over into large-cap domestic semiconductor stocks.

The Kosdaq closed up 9.15 points, or 1.11%, at 836.27. Retail investors net bought 141.1 billion won, while foreign investors and institutions net sold 98.7 billion won and 29.2 billion won, respectively. The won strengthened 2.3 won against the dollar to close at 1,381.0 won in the Seoul foreign exchange market.

"Favorable winds for memory chips in the US market and strong Korean exports acted as upward pressure, keeping the semiconductor sector in rally mode," said Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities. "As markets digested key events including the US Federal Open Market Committee meeting and the Bank of Japan's monetary policy decision, external uncertainty eased, and AI semiconductor momentum came into focus, leading to differentiated performance across sectors."

Kim Du-eon, an analyst at Hana Securities, advised that a strategy of prioritizing earnings visibility in memory chips, HBM and power equipment — while broadening exposure to growth stocks as interest rate and credit burdens ease — could prove effective for Korean equities.