South Korean stocks experienced a significant surge, climbing over 3 percent to close at a new record high above 6,300 on Thursday. Investor optimism was fueled by promising artificial intelligence prospects, spurred by Nvidia Corp.’s better-than-expected earnings report. The local currency also saw a slight gain against the US dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped by 223.41 points, or 3.67 percent, to settle at a record-breaking 6,307.27. This marks the sixth consecutive day of gains for the index.
The KOSPI’s bullish trend has persisted since the start of the year, initially surpassing the 4,500-point milestone on January 6th and then exceeding 5,000 points on January 27th. Notably, it took less than a month for the index to break through the 6,000-point barrier on Wednesday.
Trading volume was robust, reaching 1.4 billion shares valued at 38.5 trillion won ($27 billion). Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones by a margin of 659 to 239.
Institutional and individual investors made net purchases of 1.24 trillion won and 658.8 billion won worth of stocks, respectively, while foreign investors recorded net sales of 2.1 trillion won.
Overnight, Nvidia reported a fourth-quarter revenue of US$68.13 billion, exceeding analyst expectations and renewing optimism regarding the potential of AI technology.
Analysts attribute the tech rally to Nvidia’s strong earnings, highlighting that Korean chipmakers like Samsung Electronics and SK hynix play a crucial role in the Nvidia-led AI value chain.
“The index was driven by chip, electric equipment, and automobile stocks involved in the AI value chain, following Nvidia’s impressive earnings report,” stated Kang Jin-hyuk, an analyst from Shinhan Securities.
Investor sentiment was further boosted by the Bank of Korea’s announcement that it had raised its 2026 economic growth forecast by 0.2 percentage point to 2 percent, citing strong semiconductor exports, he added.
Technology and automobile stocks spearheaded the gains across the market.
Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics surged by 7.13 percent to reach an all-time high of 218,000 won, while its rival chip manufacturer, SK hynix, soared by 7.96 percent to a fresh high of 1,099,000 won.
LG Electronics experienced a significant jump of 10.05 percent to 146,700 won after Nvidia recognized the Korean company as a partner for its physical AI business.
Hyundai Motor climbed 6.47 percent to 609,000 won, and its auto parts affiliate, Hyundai Mobis, surged 12.67 percent to 529,000 won.
HD Hyundai Electric, a manufacturer of power transformers and other electrical equipment, advanced 4.32 percent to 1,111,000 won, and leading pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics rose 2.2 percent to 1,766,000 won.
However, food giant Nongshim experienced a decline of 3.23 percent to 434,000 won, and major banking group KB Financial Group fell 1.43 percent to 165,300 won.
