Kospi Closes at Record High Despite Middle East Tensions as Hyundai Motor Group Shares Jump

Kospi reverses late to finish at a record high

Institutions turn from sellers to buyers

Fading hopes for a U.S.-Iran peace deal

Won-dollar rate jumps by more than 17 won

South Korea’s Kospi erased losses caused by foreign selling and closed at another record high on May 8. Shares tied to Hyundai Motor Group surged on optimism over its robotics business, while semiconductor stocks pared earlier declines, helping the benchmark turn higher late in the session. The won-dollar exchange rate, however, jumped by more than 17 won as tensions in the Middle East escalated again.

The Kospi rose 7.95 points, or 0.11%, to 7,498.0, setting a record closing high. The index opened down 1.82% and at one point fell as much as 2.28% before turning positive at about 3:03 p.m. It ended the day with modest gains.

Institutions, which had been net sellers early in the session, turned net buyers and helped drive the rebound. On the Kospi, retail investors bought shares worth 4.7912 trillion won ($3.47 billion) and institutions purchased 1.3069 trillion won ($947 million). Foreign investors, who had sold more than 8 trillion won ($5.8 billion) a day earlier, dumped another 6.2645 trillion won ($4.54 billion) on May 8.

"After the market’s recent steep gains, selling tied to profit-taking is emerging," Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said. Foreign investors have been expanding net sales, particularly in large-cap technology shares.

Among the Kospi’s biggest companies by market value, Samsung C&T rose 4.32%, SK Hynix gained 1.93%, KB Financial Group added 0.31% and Samsung Biologics climbed 0.27%. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries fell 5.05%, Doosan Enerbility lost 4.99%, LG Energy Solution dropped 1.35%, Samsung Electronics slid 1.1%, Hanwha Aerospace declined 0.76% and Samsung Electro-Mechanics slipped 0.33%.

Hyundai AutoEver soared 29.97%, Hyundai Movex jumped 22.42%, Hyundai Mobis climbed 15.29%, Hyundai Motor advanced 7.17% and Kia gained 4.38%. The rally came after group affiliate Boston Dynamics unveiled a development model of its Atlas humanoid robot, reviving interest in the conglomerate’s physical AI business.

Construction shares closed broadly lower. GS E&C fell 5.08%, DL E&C lost 4.89%, Samsung E&A dropped 3.11% and Taeyoung E&C slid 2.68%. News that the U.S. was reviewing a resumption of "Project Freedom" added to uncertainty over peace talks and weakened expectations for Middle East reconstruction plays.

The Kosdaq rose 8.54 points, or 0.71%, to 1,207.72. Foreign investors bought 518.6 billion won ($376 million) of shares on the market and institutions purchased 79.1 billion won ($57.3 million), while retail investors sold 588.6 billion won ($427 million).

Among the Kosdaq’s largest companies, Rainbow Robotics rose 12.48%, Kolon TissueGene gained 11.52%, ABL Bio advanced 2.93%, LigaChem Biosciences added 2.41%, Samchundang Pharm climbed 1.13% and EcoPro BM rose 0.85%. Alteogen fell 4.49%, EcoPro lost 2.94%, HLB dropped 2.18% and LEENO Industrial declined 0.79%. Wonik IPS was unchanged.

The won-dollar exchange rate surged as hopes for a U.S.-Iran peace agreement faded. In Seoul’s foreign-exchange market, the won ended daytime trading at 1,471.7 per dollar, up 17.7 won from the previous session.

Ko Jeong-sam, Hankyung.com reporter, jsk@hankyung.com