Red-hot semiconductors…KOSPI breaks through 3500

Closed at 3549…record high

Effect of HBM supply to OpenAI

Samsung Electronics 3.5%·Hynix 9.9%↑

Foreign investors net-bought ₩3.14 trillion worth

The KOSPI index made history by topping the 3500 mark for the first time ever. The news of cooperation between OpenAI and domestic semiconductor companies led to a large inflow of global investment capital. A rosy outlook that the market will comfortably rise to the 3,800 level with a price-to-book ratio (PBR) of 1.2 by year-end is gaining traction.

On the 2nd, the KOSPI closed at 3549.21, a surge of 2.7%. It opened up 2.02% to 3525.48 and quickly surpassed the intraday high (3497.95). It has been about two weeks since the index first broke the intraday 3400 level on the 15th of last month. The KOSDAQ also closed at 854.25, up 1.05%.

Foreign net buying was strong. On that day, foreign investors scooped up ₩3.1396 trillion worth in the listed market. It was the largest single-day net buying amount on record.

About 80% of foreign buying was concentrated in the semiconductor sector. As a result, SK Hynix surged 9.86% to close at ₩399,500. Samsung Electronics also rose 3.49% to close at ₩89,000.

The memory semiconductor market has entered a supercycle for the first time in seven years, and news of cooperation with OpenAI strongly stimulated buying sentiment. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix joined as key partners in "Stargate," the hyperscale artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure construction project led by OpenAI.

Jeong Seong-han, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at Shinhan Asset Management, explained, "As semiconductor manufacturers' pricing power has increased and the possibility of easing regulations separating finance and industry has been raised, the stock price gains have widened." Kim Hak-gyun, head of the research center at Shinyoung Securities, predicted, "With the government's capital market modernization policies and the weak-dollar phenomenon coinciding, domestic stock price gains in the second half of the year will surpass those of the U.S."

Reporter Shim Seong-mi smshim@hankyung.com