"Even 'Samsung at 200,000 won' is cheap"…A green light for hitting 6,000 on the KOSPI [Market Preview]

The KOSPI has only 30.36 points left to reach the 6,000 level. With the U.S. stock market in New York closing higher overnight, forecasts are emerging that a green light has been lit for the KOSPI to hit 6,000. Another positive factor is that concerns have eased somewhat after Anthropic—whose AI-related fears had been rattling markets—announced partnerships with several technology companies.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 25th, the KOSPI ended the previous day up 2.11% at 5,969.64. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix both set new records, reaching the milestones dubbed "Samsung at 200,000 won" and "Hynix at 1,000,000 won," respectively. Their shares have risen 66.81% and 54.38%, respectively, so far this year. Seol Tae-hyeon, an analyst at DB Financial Investment, said, "The overwhelming earnings power of the information technology (IT) sector led by semiconductors is solid evidence that justifies the sharply higher target level for the KOSPI."

Major U.S. stock indexes all rose overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.76% to close at 49,174.50. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose 0.77% and 1.04%, respectively.

Semiconductor stocks were strong on news that Meta made a large-scale purchase of AMD’s AI chips.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped 1.45%. AMD surged 8.77% on the news, while TSMC rose 4.25% and Intel gained 5.71%.

The backdrop to broad-based selloffs centered on software stocks this year was the "AI disruption" narrative—concerns that AI’s disruptive innovation would encroach on the software industry and eventually shock related sectors as well.

However, shares of companies that had been swept up in the selloff rebounded after news that Anthropic had formed partnerships with major software companies. The expectation was that, rather than being replaced by AI, they could seek a path to survival through coexistence. On the day, Salesforce rose 4%, Adobe climbed more than 3%, and ServiceNow gained 1.71%.

The KOSPI is expected to attempt to break above 6,000 during the session, buoyed by the rebound in U.S. equities on easing AI-related anxiety.

Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, advised, "Recently, the KOSPI has maintained its status as a global bellwether despite U.S.-driven headwinds (tariffs, AI anxiety, etc.), supported by its own upside factors (earnings, valuations, policy, etc.)," adding, "Maintaining existing positions centered on market leaders can help prepare for a phase of potential flow-driven volatility."

Reporter Maeng Jin-gyu maeng@hankyung.com