Kospi Closes Above 8,000 for First Time as Iran Peace Hopes Lift Chip Stocks

South Korea’s Kospi closed above 8,000 for the first time on record as hopes for peace between the US and Iran lifted risk appetite. Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. also topped 300,000 won and 2 million won, respectively, during the session.

The Kospi rose 199.80 points, or 2.55%, to 8,047.51 on May 26. The benchmark opened 2.84% higher and extended gains through the day, briefly moving above 8,100.

The advance followed gains in US technology shares on expectations that tensions between Washington and Tehran could ease. US markets were closed on May 26 for Memorial Day, but the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 2% on May 22, the final trading day of the previous week.

Earlier, President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had discussed a “memorandum of understanding related to peace” with Arab leaders in countries surrounding Iran and that an agreement had been “largely negotiated,” helping calm markets.

In another Truth Social post the next day, Trump said negotiations with Iran were proceeding in an “orderly and constructive manner.”

On the main bourse, institutional investors were net buyers of 910 billion won. Retail and foreign investors were net sellers of 616 billion won and 184 billion won, respectively.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both hit intraday record highs. Samsung Electronics closed at 299,000 won, up 6,500 won, or 2.22%, from the previous session. It rose as high as 302,500 won during the day, topping 300,000 won.

SK Hynix ended at 2.052 million won, up 111,000 won, or 5.72%. It was the first time the stock traded above 2 million won in regular-session dealings.

Among other movers, Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. rose 17.31%, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. gained 9.56%, Hyundai Motor Co. advanced 5.19%, Doosan Enerbility Co. added 0.90% and LG Energy Solution Ltd. climbed 0.25%. Samsung Life Insurance Co. fell 4.53%, Samsung C&T Corp. slipped 2.26% and SK Square Co. dropped 0.34%.

The Kosdaq rose 11.39 points, or 0.98%, to 1,172.52. On the secondary exchange, retail investors were net buyers of 22.4 billion won, while foreign and institutional investors were net sellers of 14.9 billion won and 3.4 billion won, respectively.

In Seoul, the won-dollar exchange rate closed at 1,504.3 won per dollar, down 12.9 won from the previous session.

Lee Su, Hankyung.com reporter 2su@hankyung.com