South Korea’s benchmark Kospi soared past the 4,200 mark Monday, buoyed by strong investor optimism over expectations of a major partnership between Korea and US chip giant Nvidia.
The Kospi closed at 4,221.87, gaining 114.37 points, or 2.78 percent, from the previous session. It was the first time the index finished above 4,200 points.
After opening at 4,123.36, the index quickly broke its previous intraday record of 4,146.72 and climbed further, hitting the 4,200 threshold for the first time just before noon. The index extended its gain, touching a fresh intraday high of 4,221.92.
The 4,200-point milestone came only two trading days after the Kospi breached the 4,100 level last Thursday, underscoring the market’s accelerating momentum.
Retail investors led Monday’s rally, net buying 653 billion won ($455 million) worth of stocks on the main bourse. Institutional investors, who began the day as net sellers, later turned to net buyers with 184 billion won in purchases, while foreign investors offloaded 795 billion won.
Market sentiment remained upbeat following the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Korea, which strengthened confidence in the country’s role in the global AI supply chain. Optimism grew further after Nvidia announced Friday that it will supply 260,000 Blackwell graphics processing units to the Korean government and major conglomerates — news that landed just before the market closed.
“Following the meeting between Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun, Korea’s stock market is generating its own momentum for artificial intelligence,” said Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities. “The AI alliance could provide long-term growth potential for the domestic stock market.”
Tech heavyweights led the charge. Samsung Electronics surged as high as 111,500 won during trading, breaching the 110,000-won threshold for the first time and more than doubling from 49,900 won a year earlier. SK hynix hit a record 624,000 won, surpassing 600,000 won for the first time after rising sharply from 157,600 won in late November last year.
Shares of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix closed at 111,100 won and 620,000 won, respectively, up 3.26 percent and 10.91 percent from the previous trading day.
silverstar@heraldcorp.com
