KOSPI Breaks Through 7,300 in a Surge; Samsung Electronics and SK hynix Soar on Foreign Inflows [Morning Market Update]

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\r\n[Financial News] The KOSPI Composite Index broke above the 7,300 mark for the first time ever on the 6th, setting a new all-time high. As overseas Korean retail investors increased their buying in the domestic market, funds poured into Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and SK hynix.
As of 10:40 a.m. that day, the KOSPI Composite Index was trading at 7,339.31, up 402.32 points, or 5.80%, from the previous session. It opened at 7,093.01, up 156.02 points, or 2.25%, from the prior close, and has since extended its gains.
At 9:06 a.m., a buy-side circuit breaker was also triggered. At the time, the KOSPI 200 Futures index was up 6.28% from the previous session. If the futures index rises more than 5% from the prior trading day and stays there for more than one minute, a buy-side circuit breaker halts buy orders for five minutes.
In the KOSPI Market, foreign investors were net buyers of 1.2048 trillion won. Institutions and individuals were net sellers of 665.7 billion won and 402.8 billion won, respectively.
By sector, securities rose 10.67%, followed by electric and electronic equipment at 9.73%, distribution at 7.42%, manufacturing at 6.86%, insurance at 6.56%, and finance at 4.76%. In contrast, real estate fell 3.93%, entertainment and culture 2.96%, paper and wood 2.23%, and nonmetals 1.62%.
Among the largest stocks by market capitalization, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and SK hynix were especially strong, rising 12.15% and 10.02%, respectively. SK Square gained 11.20%, while Hyundai Motor Company rose 2.23%, LG Energy Solution 0.95%, Doosan Enerbility 0.16%, Samsung C&T Corporation 19.22%, and Kia Corporation 1.10%. Hanwha Aerospace Co., Ltd. fell 1.98%, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries 3.38%, Samsung Biologics 0.34%, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics 0.44%.
The rally appears to have been driven by overnight strength in U.S. stocks, led by technology shares. On the 5th local time, all three major indexes on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) closed higher. The tech-heavy NASDAQ finished at 25,326.13, up 258.31 points, or 1.03%, from the previous session.
The surge in U.S. retail investors entering the domestic market also helped lift the index. Samsung Securities Co., Ltd. has partnered with Interactive Brokers (IBKR), a U.S. online brokerage, and has been running a pilot foreign integrated account service since the 28th of last month. The service allows foreign investors to trade Korean stocks through local brokerages or asset managers without opening an account directly with a domestic securities firm.
Lee Jae-won, a researcher at Yuanta Securities Korea Co., Ltd., said, "The KOSPI Composite Index surged right after the market opened and set a new record high." He added, "With U.S. stocks also hitting record highs during the holiday period, the move was driven by an influx of foreign individual investors."
At the same time, the KOSDAQ was trading at 1,203.83, down 9.91 points, or 0.82%, from the previous session. It opened at 1,220.90, up 7.16 points, or 0.59%, from the prior close, before reversing course.
On the KOSDAQ, individual investors were net buyers of 363.5 billion won. Institutions and foreign investors were net sellers of 287.5 billion won and 65.7 billion won, respectively.
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yimsh0214@fnnews.com Lim Sang-hyeok Reporter