KOSPI Sets New Milestone at 6,000 Points and 5,000 Trillion Won in Market Cap [KOSPI Breaks 6,000]

The era of the KOSPI at 6,000 points has begun. It comes just about one month after the index first broke through the 5,000-point level.
According to the Korea Exchange (KRX) on the 25th, the index finished trading at 6,083.86, up 114.22 points (1.91%) from the previous session, marking a record high for the fifth consecutive day. The KOSPI opened at 6,022.70, up 53.06 points (0.89%) from the previous close, and crossed the 6,000-point mark as soon as the market opened. It then climbed as high as 6,144.71 during intraday trading, briefly touching the 6,100 level. The index had closed at 5,084.85 on the 27th of last month, surpassing 5,000 points, and has now entered the 6,000 range in roughly one month.
Retail investors and institutional investors bought 623.4 billion won and 695.4 billion won worth of shares, respectively, pushing the index higher. Foreign investors, by contrast, recorded net selling of 1.5007 trillion won to lock in profits. Foreign investors have sold an average of about 1 trillion won per day for six consecutive trading days.
Large-cap semiconductor and automobile stocks led the gains. Samsung Electronics ended the session at 203,500 won, up 1.75% from the previous day, while SK hynix closed at 1,018,000 won, up 1.29%. Buying interest gathered after concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) would erode the software industry eased, as Anthropic announced partnerships with software companies in the New York stock market overnight, and ahead of Nvidia’s earnings release scheduled for the following day.
Hyundai Motor and Kia stood out among large caps, jumping 9.16% and 12.7%, respectively. Hyundai Motor surged on renewed attention to its robotics business as a growth driver, while Kia rallied sharply on news that cumulative production at Kia’s Georgia plant in the United States had surpassed 5 million vehicles.
With the KOSPI breaking through the unprecedented 6,000-point level, its total market capitalization exceeded 5,000 trillion won for the first time on record. The combined market capitalization of companies listed on the KOSPI market was tallied at 5,016.8888 trillion won on the day.
Buoyed by the stock market boom that began last year, the KOSPI’s market capitalization has expanded rapidly. At the close of trading, the KOSPI’s market cap first surpassed 2,000 trillion won on January 4, 2021, then broke through 3,000 trillion won on October 15 last year, about four years and nine months later. It went on to exceed 4,000 trillion won on the 16th of last month, just three months after that, and has now swelled by more than another 1,000 trillion won in roughly a month and a half. Meanwhile, the KOSDAQ Index closed at 1,165.25, up 0.25 points (0.02%) from the previous session. It opened at 1,174.27, up 0.8% from the prior close, and then moved within a narrow range. nodelay@fnnews.com Reporter Park Ji-yeon