Kospi Closes at Record High on US-Iran Ceasefire Hopes; Samsung, Preferred Shares Top $1.46 Trillion

"War-ending MOU talks completed, awaiting only Trump's approval"

LG Electronics, LG CNS hit daily limit on hopes for a second meeting with Jensen Huang

South Korea's Kospi closed at another record high on May 29 as hopes grew for a US-Iran agreement to end the war. Samsung Electronics and its preferred shares also set a new market milestone, with their combined market capitalization topping 2,000 trillion won ($1.46 trillion). The Kosdaq, by contrast, fell for a third straight session.

The Kospi rose 290.86 points, or 3.55%, to 8,476.15. It notched another record closing high, two sessions after the previous one.

The rally was driven by expectations for talks to end the conflict between the US and Iran. Axios reported that Washington and Tehran had completed negotiations on a memorandum of understanding to end the war. The deal now awaits final approval from US President Donald Trump. All three major US stock indexes also closed at record highs.

Economic data also reassured investors. The personal consumption expenditures price index for April, released by the US Commerce Department, rose 3.8% from a year earlier. That was the fastest annual increase since May 2023, when it rose 4.0%. The index increased 0.4% from the previous month.

Institutional investors led the gains. They were net buyers of 2.372 trillion won on the Kospi, while foreign and retail investors were net sellers of 1.043 trillion won and 1.407 trillion won, respectively.

Most of the Kospi's largest stocks advanced. Samsung Electronics and its preferred shares surpassed a combined market value of 2,000 trillion won for the first time. Samsung Electronics closed up 5.84% at 317,000 won, while Samsung Electronics preferred shares rose 6.08% to 202,500 won. Their combined market capitalization reached about 2,015 trillion won. Investor sentiment improved after news that Samsung Electronics had shipped the world's first 12-layer HBM4E samples.

SK Hynix also hit a record high during the session, climbing to 2.38 million won. Samsung Electro-Mechanics, another beneficiary of spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure, surged more than 15%. LG-related shares also jumped after reports that Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang will visit South Korea next week for meetings with LG and Naver. LG Electronics and LG CNS both surged to their daily trading limits. LG Innotek gained 28.57%, LG Corp. rose 26.6% and Naver added 14.15%.

The Kosdaq fell for a third consecutive trading day, closing down 2.68% at 1,074.8.

The won weakened against the dollar. In Seoul trading, the currency closed at 1,507.9 won per dollar, down 5.0 won from the previous session.

Kim Yeon-ji, Hankyung.com reporter kongzi@hankyung.com