This photo taken on Thursday shows Hana Bank’s trading room in Seoul as South Korean stocks hit new highs due to a rise in AI stocks. Photo provided by: Yonhap
South Korean stocks hit a new high on Monday, led by a big rally in artificial intelligence (AI) stocks. The local currency appreciated against the US dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 311.85 points (3.68%) to close at 8,788.38 after hitting an intraday high of 8,874.16.
As the index opened at a record high and extended its gains, the Korea Exchange (KRX) activated its buy-side sidecar and suspended program trading of KOSPI stock for five minutes at around 11:30 a.m.
The trading volume was 618.17 million shares, worth 69.4 trillion won (approximately US$46.1 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 712 to 194.
Institutions and individuals collected a net amount of 2.53 trillion won and 377.31 billion won, respectively, and foreigners deposited a net amount of 2.91 trillion won.
The United States and Iran have been negotiating a draft agreement to end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but the failure to find a meaningful breakthrough over the weekend also contributed to the rise in oil prices.
Despite the lack of progress in Middle East negotiations, semiconductor manufacturers have rallied together in hopes that the AI-driven semiconductor boom will continue.
According to government data, South Korea’s exports rose 53% year-on-year to $87.8 billion in May, the highest amount for the month, due to the semiconductor supercycle.
Ahead of Jensen Huang, CEO of US semiconductor giant Nvidia, visiting South Korea later this week, robotics and AI-related stocks rose on expectations for potential partnership opportunities.
At the Computex conference in Taipei, Huang said Nvidia’s Vera central processing units (CPUs) designed for AI agents will be equipped with high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips supplied by Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Micron.
Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said, “Mr. Hwang’s announcement regarding VeraChip, combined with expectations surrounding his visit to South Korea, increased investor sentiment toward semiconductor manufacturers.Samsung Electronics, whose stock price had recently been below that of SK Hynix, soared.”
“Large-cap stocks related to AI and robotics appear to be leading the overall market rally on hopes of a potential collaboration with Nvidia,” he added.
Market leader Samsung Electronics rose 10.09% to a record high of 349,000 won, while rival semiconductor maker SK Hynix rose 1.29% to 1.36 million won.
Automobile giant Hyundai Motor rose 3.73% to 750,000 won, and AI investment company SK Square rose 1.87% to 1.25 million won.
LG Electronics soared 29.86% to 380,500 won, and internet portal operator Naver soared 16.03% to 271,500 won following reports that top executives from both companies may meet with Hwang to discuss an AI partnership.
As of 3:30 p.m., the Korean won was trading at 1,504.3 won against the US dollar, an increase of 3.6 won from the previous transaction.
Bond prices closed inversely proportional to yields. The yield on three-year government bonds rose 5.9 basis points to 3.790%, while the return on the benchmark five-year government bond rose 7.2 basis points to 3.996%.
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