KOSPI opens higher, briefly surpasses 4,600 mark

Graphics by AJP Song Ji-yoon

SEOUL, January 8 (AJP) – The South Korean stock market opened higher on Thursday, with the benchmark KOSPI surpassing the 4,600 mark for the first time, as major chipmakers extended gains and retail investors poured into large-cap shares.

About an hour after the market opened, the KOSPI soared 1.4 percent from the previous session to 4,615.70, while the tech-heavy KOSDAQ slipped 0.1 percent to 946.46.

Investors showed a clear divergence in early trade as retail investors bought a net 2.23 trillion won ($1.65 billion), while foreign and institutional investors sold roughly 0.15 trillion won and 2.71 trillion won.

Among blue-chip stocks, Samsung Electronics slipped 0.7 percent to 140,000 won ($105) after hitting a fresh 52-week high of 144,400 won the previous day. However, it remains in a strong upward trend, rising roughly 176 percent from its previous low of 50,800 won in February last year and more than doubling over the past year.

SK hynix rose 0.5 percent to 746,000 won ($561), recovering from early losses and hovering near its recent record high, as strong demand for high-bandwidth memory continued to support the stock. The outlook was further bolstered by comments from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who said demand for advanced memory remains overwhelming and highlighted close cooperation with suppliers on next-generation HBM4.

Hana Securities said semiconductors are expected to account for roughly 47 percent of KOSPI's net profit over the next 12 months, led by strong earnings growth at Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, while the sector’s forward valuation remains relatively low despite the recent rally.

Hyundai Motor fell 1.6 percent to 345,000 won ($259), giving back part of the previous session’s sharp gains, which had been driven by optimism over its AI and robotics strategy unveiled at this year's CES currently underway in Las Vegas.

The drop was widely seen as profit-taking following the recent surge, rather than a change in the underlying outlook.

Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.7 percent to 51,577.20, while China's Shanghai Composite edged up 0.1 percent to 4,085.77.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was largely flat in Hong Kong, with Hang Seng Bank steady at 153.80 HKD ($19.7), as investors took a cautious stance ahead of upcoming policy and earnings announcements.