Kospi Tops 7,030 in Early Trade as Foreign, Institutional Buying Lifts Market

The Kospi rose above 7,030 in early trading on October 6, extending gains as strength in U.S. technology shares buoyed sentiment.

As of 9:01 a.m., the Kospi stood at 7,034.25, up 30.51 points, or 0.44%, from the previous session.

Foreign and institutional investors led the advance. On the benchmark Kospi market, foreign investors were net buyers of 31.2 billion won, while institutions purchased a net 55.6 billion won. Retail investors were net sellers of 93.2 billion won.

Investor sentiment was supported by gains in artificial intelligence-related technology stocks on Wall Street overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.18%, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.66%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.05% and closed at a record high.

Among the Kospi's biggest companies by market capitalization, Samsung Electronics, SK Square, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, LG Energy Solution, Hyundai Motor, KB Financial Group and Samsung Life Insurance traded higher. SK Hynix and Samsung Biologics fell.

The Kosdaq also climbed more than 1%, reclaiming the 900 level. At the same time, the Kosdaq index rose 10.25 points, or 1.15%, to 903.54.

On the Kosdaq market, retail investors were net buyers of 60.3 billion won and institutions bought a net 1.1 billion won, while foreign investors were net sellers of 61 billion won.

Among individual stocks, EcoPro, EcoPro BM, Jusung Engineering, Rainbow Robotics, Wonik IPS, EO Technics, Simmtech and Leeno Industrial rose. Alteogen traded lower.