Kospi Tops 8,800 Intraday for Record High; Samsung Electronics Jumps 10%

Samsung Electronics Common-Share Market Value Tops $1.5 Trillion for First Time

South Korea’s Kospi rose above 8,800 during trading on June 1, hitting a record high. Samsung Electronics Co. jumped more than 10% at one point, lifting the market capitalization of its common shares above 2,000 trillion won ($1.5 trillion) for the first time.

As of 10:55 a.m., the Kospi was up 355.01 points, or 4.19%, at 8,831.16 from the previous session.

On the main board, retail investors were net buyers of 660.3 billion won, while institutions purchased a net 1.7845 trillion won. Foreign investors were net sellers of 2.1948 trillion won.

The Kospi extended gains as retail and institutional buying accelerated on hopes for an end to the conflict between the US and Iran.

Samsung Electronics was trading at 348,500 won, up 31,500 won, or 9.94%, from the previous session. The stock rose more than 10% earlier in the day. Jensen Huang’s visit to South Korea and news of HBM4E sample shipments appeared to boost sentiment. The rally lifted Samsung Electronics’ common-share market capitalization to 2,037.4281 trillion won, pushing it above 2,000 trillion won for the first time.

Other stocks rising included Samsung C&T, up 8.67%, Doosan Enerbility, up 4.17%, Samsung Life Insurance, up 4.63%, SK Square, up 2.92%, Hyundai Motor, up 2.90%, SK Hynix, up 1.67%, and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, up 1.44%. Samsung Electro-Mechanics and LG Energy Solution fell.

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