South Korea's stock markets achieved a historic milestone on Monday, with the total valuation of listed companies crossing the 6,000 trillion won ($4.08 trillion) mark for the first time during trading hours. According to figures from Yonhap News Agency, the combined market capitalisation of domestic bourses reached 6,047.9 trillion won as of early Monday morning. The Kospi, the country's main index, dominated this achievement with a market cap of 5,354.36 trillion won, followed by the Kosdaq at 673.97 trillion won and the Konex at 3.64 trillion won. The three markets are the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), the secondary KOSDAQ and the KONEX market for small and medium-sized enterprises.
The Kospi extended its remarkable rally by opening higher and climbing to an intraday record of 6,603.01, surpassing the 6,600 mark for the first time. As reported by Yonhap News Agency, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) was trading 139.64 points, or 2.16 percent, higher at 6,615.27 as of 11:20 a.m. The broader strength in equities was also visible in the Kosdaq, which advanced over 1 per cent. The index had already crossed the 1,200 level last Friday, a threshold it had not breached in roughly 25 years. Heavyweight stocks remained at the forefront of the rally, with Samsung Electronics rising 2.05 percent and SK hynix surging 6.38 percent, representing a fresh all-time high for the semiconductor company. According to AASTOCKS, the Kospi closed at 6,615.03 points, up 2.15%, with Samsung Electronics rising 2.28% to KRW224,500 and SK Hynix gaining 5.73% to reach KRW1,292,000.
The gains are largely attributed to strong anticipation for South Korea's semiconductor sector, with major companies like Samsung Electronics and SK hynix performing exceptionally well. As reported by Yonhap News Agency, the KOSPI advanced over 28 percent from April 1 to Friday, while the smaller KOSDAQ rose 14.4 percent during the same period. Early this month, the country's major semiconductor firms -- Samsung Electronics and SK hynix -- each posted record first-quarter earnings, boosted by high demand for semiconductors amid a global boom in artificial intelligence. According to IANS, improving business conditions and earnings forecasts of major companies are now being reflected in the KOSPI, with analyst Lee Kyoung-min from Daishin Securities noting that "improving business conditions and the earnings forecast of major companies, which once had been clouded by uncertainties by the Middle East, is now being reflected in the KOSPI."
Market performance across Asia was mixed, though gains were largely concentrated in North Asia's technology-heavy segments. According to The Korea Herald, by 12:20 pm IST, Taiwan's Weighted index was up 1.73 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.18 per cent, supported by a broader upswing in semiconductor and artificial intelligence-linked stocks globally. However, sentiment was not uniformly positive across the region, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Singapore's Straits Times index trading lower, down 0.25 per cent and 0.57 per cent respectively, as investors remained watchful of ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the resulting uncertainty in global energy supplies. In India, the GIFT NIFTY reflected steady optimism with a 0.43 per cent uptick, hovering around the 24,000 mark.
