Foreign buying drives Kospi above 4,400 milestone

Offshore investors buy W2.2tr, as Samsung, SK hynix hit new highs

An electronic board at Hana Bank's dealing room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 4,457.52, gaining 147.89 points, or 3.43 percent, from the previous session. (Yonhap)

The South Korean benchmark Kospi climbed past the 4,400 mark on Monday, buoyed by a sharp foreign buying spree of about 2.2 trillion won ($1.5 billion).

The country's top chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix also jumped to record highs during intraday trading.

The Kospi closed at 4,457.52, gaining 147.89 points, or 3.43 percent, from the previous session, according to the Korea Exchange. It was the first time for the index to breach the 4,400 mark.

The index opened at 4,385.92 points, gaining 1.77 percent from the previous session when it had crossed the 4,300 mark for the first time. It quickly surged past its previous intraday record of 4,313.55 set on Friday and later extended gains to end the session on a high.

Foreign investors were the main force driving the index higher, snapping up 2.17 trillion won in shares, while retail and institutional investors were net sellers of 1.51 trillion won and 704 billion won, respectively.

Samsung Electronics ended daytime trading at 138,100 won, up 9,600 won, or 7.47 percent, on the day. The stock reached as high as 138,600 won during trading. It is the first time the tech behemoth breached 130,000 won.

SK hynix also advanced, wrapping the day up at 696,000 won, up 19,000 won, or 2.81 percent, on-day. Shortly after trading kicked off, SK hynix soon touched its all-time high of 700,000 won.

With Monday's rally, Samsung Electronics’ market capitalization stands at 817.5 trillion won, while that of SK hynix marks 506.69 trillion won, as of the daytime trading close.

The chip rally was driven by robust investor sentiment, fueled by record-high semiconductor exports in December and growing expectations that the industry will remain on a strong footing this year.

Local brokerage houses have raised their target prices for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix across the board, lifting Samsung Electronics’ target price to around 170,000 won and projecting SK hynix could climb to as high as 950,000 won.

“With the pre-earnings season for the fourth quarter of 2025 on the way, earnings forecasts for semiconductor stocks, particularly Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, are being revised upward at an accelerating pace. The Kospi is expected to see a strong upward trend led by semiconductors this week,” said Lee Kyung-min, a researcher at Daishin Securities.

Meanwhile, the won weakened against the dollar, pressured by rising geopolitical risks sparked by the US’ recent attack on Venezuela.

The won was quoted at 1,443.8 per dollar as of daytime trading’s close, weakening 2 won from the previous session.

The won quickly lost value after the market opened, touching a session low of 1,449.5 per dollar at around noon. Strong foreign buying of local stocks, amounting to nearly 2.2 trillion won, however, supported the won to cap the devaluation.

As safe-haven demand strengthened, the dollar index, a key gauge which tracks the greenback against major currencies, edged higher, weighing on the risk-sensitive won.