Kospi Closes at Record 8,801 After Wild Swings Near 9,000

South Korea’s Kospi ended marginally higher after a volatile session as the benchmark approached the 9,000 level. It still finished above 8,800 for the first time on a closing basis. AI and robotics shares advanced ahead of Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang’s visit to South Korea.

The Kospi rose 13.11 points, or 0.15%, to 8,801.49 on June 2. After opening 1.08% higher, the index climbed to as high as 8,933 in early trading. It later slid to 8,503 as profit-taking emerged with the benchmark nearing 9,000. The intraday swing totaled 430 points.

Foreign and institutional investors faced off in heavy trading. On the main bourse, foreigners were net sellers of 6.594 trillion won, while institutions were net buyers of 6.35 trillion won. Retail investors were also net buyers, purchasing a net 237 billion won.

Moves among the Kospi’s largest stocks were mixed. Of the market’s two biggest chipmakers, Samsung Electronics rose 3.3%, lifting the stock to the 360,000-won level, while SK Hynix slipped 0.13%. Buying in Samsung appeared to accelerate after news that it had become the first in the industry to supply seventh-generation HBM4E samples.

According to industry sources, Samsung Electronics began supplying HBM4E samples to customers on May 29. With rivals still conducting customer qualification tests for HBM4, Samsung appears to have moved first not only in mass production of commercial HBM4 products but also in HBM4E sample shipments.

Expectations for cooperation with Nvidia ahead of Huang’s visit also boosted AI and robotics-related shares. Doosan Robotics surged 20.45%, NC climbed 14.38%, SK Telecom gained 11.59%, Naver advanced 3.31% and LG Electronics rose 3.15%. By contrast, LG Innotek tumbled 18.17%, Samsung SDS fell 16.99%, LG dropped 15.56%, Doosan lost 12.94% and Samsung Electro-Mechanics declined 9.58% after recent sharp gains.

The Kosdaq fell for a fifth straight session. The index dropped 24 points, or 2.29%, to 1,026.03 on June 2. On the Kosdaq market, retail investors were net sellers of 409 billion won. Foreigners and institutions were net buyers of 311 billion won and 129 billion won, respectively.

Robotics shares also gained on the Kosdaq, with Robostar surging to the daily limit. Yuil Robotics rose 12.86% and Clobot added 5.45%. Olix slid 9.72%, Samchundang Pharm fell 7.5% and Hyundai Movex dropped 7.38%.

The won weakened by more than 10 won against the dollar. In Seoul trading, the won closed the daytime session at 1,516.4 per dollar, down 12.1 won from the previous session.

Noh Jung-dong, Hankyung.com reporter, dong2@hankyung.com