South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI opened significantly higher on Tuesday, driven primarily by strong performance in technology shares following Samsung Electronics Co.’s announcement of record first-quarter earnings.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) surged 134.43 points, or 2.47 percent, reaching 5,584.76 within the initial 15 minutes of Tuesday’s trading session.
This notable surge in the South Korean stock market was broadly underpinned by robust corporate earnings expectations across various sectors.
Driving much of this optimism, Samsung Electronics estimated its first-quarter operating profit to have soared nearly ninefold, hitting a record 57.2 trillion won ($38 billion). This impressive figure contrasts sharply with 6.61 trillion won reported a year earlier, largely fueled by robust global demand for cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
Investor sentiment in Seoul was further boosted by positive overnight movements on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing 0.36 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite adding 0.54 percent.
Individual stock performance highlighted key sector strengths. Samsung Electronics’ shares jumped a significant 3.7 percent, while its main chip manufacturing rival, SK hynix, also saw strong gains, advancing 3.56 percent.
Among other major Korean corporations, top carmaker Hyundai Motor experienced a rise of 2.56 percent, and its affiliate Kia also performed well, climbing 1.12 percent.
Leading global battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution advanced 2.4 percent, and the nation’s top refiner, SK Innovation, posted a robust surge of 3.08 percent.
Conversely, some stocks saw minor pullbacks. Dominant tobacco company KT&G registered a slight dip of 0.45 percent, while food manufacturer Samyang Foods declined 0.66 percent.
