Kospi hits two-year high as Nvidia sends tech stocks soaring

Stocks advanced over 1 percent on tech gains, pushing Kospi to a 2-year high. The won fell against the dollar.

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 2,797.33 points on Wednesday, up 1.21 percent, or 33.41 points, from the previous trading session. [NEWS1]

Shares advanced by more than 1 percent Wednesday, as investors scooped up tech stocks following a rally on Wall Street, to reach a new two-year high. The won slightly fell in value against the dollar.

The Kospi gained 33.41 points, or 1.21 percent, to close at 2,797.33. The closing index reached its highest since Jan. 21, 2022, when the comparable reading was 2,834.29. The Kosdaq rose 0.26 percent, or 2.22 points, to close at 861.17.

Trade volume was heavy at 635.72 million shares worth 13.86 trillion won ($10.03 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 536 to 341.

Institutions and foreigners bought a combined 820 billion won worth of stocks, exceeding individuals' stock sales valued at 748 billion won.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2 percent to 38,834.86, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite gained 0.03 percent to reach 17,862.23. Nvidia surpassed Microsoft and Apple to become the world's most-valuable publicly traded company for the first time.

In Seoul, tech, auto and battery stocks led gains.

Samsung Electronics rose 1.75 percent to 81,200 won while LG Electronics soared 6.1 percent to 108,000 won.

LG Energy Solution gained 3.63 percent to 343,000 won, and Samsung SDI jumped 4.7 percent to 392,500 won.

Hyundai Motor added 1.2 percent to 286,500 won while Kia gained 0.99 percent to 132,300 won.

Among decliners, Korean Air fell 0.9 percent to 21,550 won, Amorepacific shed 1.8 percent to 178,400 won, and SK Telecom slipped 0.6 percent to 51,200 won.

SK hynix, a chip supplier to Nvidia, slid 0.43 percent to 233,500 won as investors cashed in on its strong gains. It had hit a 52-week high during early trading on the back of Nvidia becoming the world's most valuable company.

The local currency closed at 1,381.80 won against the greenback, up 0.7 won from the previous session's close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year government bonds fell 5.2 basis points to 3.163 percent, and the return on the benchmark U.S. 10-year government bonds dropped 5.9 basis points to 4.223 percent.

BY KIM JU-YEON, YONHAP [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]