KOSPI touches 3,950 intraday for the first time…'Sachun-pi' now within reach

The KOSPI index breached the intraday 3,950 level for the first time ever and came close to 'Sachun-pi' (KOSPI 4000).

According to the Korea Exchange, on the 24th the KOSPI closed at 3,941.59, up 96.03 points (2.5%) from the previous day.

Foreign and institutional demand flowed in strongly together. On the KOSPI market, foreigners and institutions had net buying of 575.5 billion won and 1.4054 trillion won, respectively. Individual investors alone sold off 2.0003 trillion won.

On the KOSPI market, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix surged by 2.38% and 6.58%, respectively. The strength in these stocks is attributed to upbeat results from U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor companies. Intel said after the close that third-quarter revenue came in at $13.65 billion, far exceeding analysts' expectations. Intel jumped more than 7% in after-hours trading following the earnings release.

Based on closing prices, the market capitalization of Samsung Electronics and Samsung Electronics (preferred) stood at 584.8602 trillion won and 63.5644 trillion won, respectively. SK Hynix's market cap was 371.2812 trillion won. The combined market cap of these three stocks was 1,019.7058 trillion won, marking the first time the combined market cap of the two leading semiconductor stocks, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, exceeded 1,000 trillion won.

The KOSDAQ index ended trading at 883.08, up 11.05 points (1.27%).

Institutions were net buyers of 158.6 billion won, while individuals and foreigners were net sellers of 110.9 billion won and 38.3 billion won, respectively.

Leading stock Alteogen fell 1.55%. EcoPro BM and EcoPro each rose 8%. Along with these names, secondary battery-related stocks have continued a sharp rally this month. Classys jumped in the 12% range on news of an acquisition of a South American energy-based cosmetic medical device company.

SAMG Entertainment surged more than 20%. The rise is attributed to a photo of BLACKPINK's Lisa using a grip-tok merchandise item of the character 'Hachuping' being posted on social networking services (SNS) the previous day. SAMG Entertainment is the producer of the 'Tinyping' series, and Hachuping is a popular character in the Tinyping series.

In the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won·dollar exchange rate was 1,437.1 won at 3:30 p.m., down 2.5 won.

Min-kyung Shin, Hankyung.com reporter radio@hankyung.com