Retail and institutional buying under Nvidia-driven tailwind lifts KOSPI above 6,200 [FN Afternoon Market]

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) settled above the 6,200 mark, supported by simultaneous net buying by retail and institutional investors under a tailwind from Nvidia.
As of 1:57 p.m. on the 26th, the KOSPI was trading at 6,216.54, up 132.68 points (2.18%) from the previous session.
The index opened at 6,121.03, up 37.17 points (0.61%) from the previous close, and then extended its gains. At one point during the session, it touched 6,228.33, coming close to the 6,300 level.
Retail investors and institutions lifted the index by posting net purchases of 1.7445 trillion won and 640.2 billion won, respectively. Foreign investors, by contrast, were heavy net sellers, offloading 2.5881 trillion won.
On the back of the Nvidia-driven rally, market heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix were showing strong performances. Samsung Electronics was up 5.53%, while SK Hynix was gaining 2.85%.
Nvidia announced on the 25th (local time) that its revenue for the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year (November last year to January this year) came in at 68.13 billion dollars, or about 97 trillion won. The figure beat the 66.2 billion dollars expected by market research firm London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG).
Lee Sung-hoon, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said, "Despite increased profit-taking sentiment after the KOSPI broke through the 6,000 level yesterday, the rise in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) and Nvidia's strong earnings reaffirmed that the artificial intelligence (AI) industry is in an expansion phase," adding, "As the narrative of strengthening semiconductor earnings momentum continues, the uptrend is likely to persist."
Among other large-cap stocks, Hyundai Motor Company, SK Square, Samsung Biologics, Kia, and Samsung C&T were trading higher, while LG Energy Solution, Doosan Enerbility, KB Financial Group, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, and Hanwha Aerospace were weaker.
By sector, electrical and electronics, machinery and equipment, manufacturing, construction, IT services, and medical and precision instruments were strong, whereas food and tobacco, paper and wood, non-metallic minerals, transportation and warehousing, and textiles and apparel were declining.
Meanwhile, at the same time, the KOSDAQ index was trading at 1,189.83, up 24.58 points (2.11%) from the previous session.

jisseo@fnnews.com Seo Min-ji Reporter