SK hynix Market Cap Tops 2,000 Trillion Won, Lifting KOSPI Again [fn Morning Market]

[Financial News] SK hynix surged in early trading on the 19th, briefly pushing its market capitalization above 2,000 trillion won. It is the second company in the domestic stock market to cross that threshold, after Samsung Electronics.
According to the Korea Exchange (KRX), as of 9:35 a.m. SK hynix was trading at 2.822 million won, up 5.10% from the previous session. Based on its roughly 712.7 million outstanding shares, its market capitalization stood at about 2,011 trillion won. The stock climbed as high as 2.85 million won intraday, briefly lifting its market cap to the 2,030 trillion won range.
SK hynix's move above 2,000 trillion won marks the second such record in South Korea, following Samsung Electronics. Earlier, on the 27th of last month, SK hynix's share price rose above 2.2 million won, making it the country's second company to join the $1 trillion club after Samsung Electronics. Since then, expectations of stronger demand for artificial intelligence (AI) memory have fueled a sharp rally, adding more than 500 trillion won to its market value in about three weeks. SK Square, which holds about 20% of SK hynix, also rose 6.53% as group stocks moved higher in tandem.
The KOSPI rose 2.77% from the previous session to 9,314.73, moving above the 9,300 level. Samsung Electronics, the index's largest company by market cap, was also up more than 1% and traded in the upper 360,000-won range. Other semiconductor-related stocks, including Samsung Electro-Mechanics, also joined the rally.
Brokerage houses are continuing to raise their target prices for SK hynix. They expect profit momentum to strengthen as demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), a key AI memory product, expands. Some, however, warn that the concentration of funds in semiconductor stocks could deepen, increasing short-term volatility.
Meanwhile, the KOSDAQ turned lower, falling 1% on the day. At the same time, it was down 1.24% from the previous session at 988.51.
Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, "This week's sharp rise in the KOSPI was driven by the dominance of the semiconductor and IT hardware sectors, and it is also time to consider the fatigue and profit-taking that have built up during the rally." She added, "Investors should also keep in mind the possibility of rotation into sectors such as shipbuilding, defense, securities, power equipment, and biotech, which fell too sharply the previous day."
fair@fnnews.com Han Young-joon Reporter