Index tops 6,600 for first time as foreign inflows, chip stocks drive gains
South Korea's stock market capitalization surpassed 6,000 trillion won ($4.1 trillion) for the first time Monday, backed by a blistering Kospi rally that pushed the index past the 6,600 point mark for the first time.
The combined market cap stood at 6,120.36 trillion won as of 2 p.m., according to the Korea Exchange.
By market, the main board Kospi accounted for the largest share at 5,439.87 trillion won. The secondary Kosdaq and entry-level Konex stood at 678.68 trillion won and 3.59 trillion won, respectively.
Having surpassed 4,000 trillion won on Jan. 2 and 5,000 trillion won on April 3, the combined market cap reached the 6,000 trillion won milestone at an unprecedented pace.
The figure has nearly tripled since April 9, 2025, when the Kospi hit its year-low of 2,293.7. At the time, the Kospi was valued at 1,880.17 trillion won and the Kosdaq at 329.85 trillion won, bringing the total to about 2,210 trillion won.
The recent surge came as the Kospi extended its rally.
The Kospi opened 0.9 percent higher on Monday at 6,533.6 and extended its gains to hit 6,657.22 during trading, renewing its all-time high. It stood at 6,627.75, up 2.35 percent as of 2 p.m.
Last week, the benchmark index posted record highs for three consecutive sessions before easing slightly on Friday in a brief pause, but resumed its upward momentum on the day.
Foreign and institutional investors pushed the index higher, net purchasing shares worth 668.8 billion won and 1.25 trillion won, respectively, while retail investors offloaded 1.9 trillion won.
Semiconductor heavyweights led the advance. Samsung Electronics rose 2.28 percent to 224,500 won, while SK hynix jumped 6.46 percent to 1.3 million won as of 2 p.m.
Earlier, SK hynix surpassed the 1.3 million won mark for the first time, surging to as high as 1.32 million won during trading.
"The AI value chain has played a key role in driving the local stock market capitalization to 6,000 trillion won," said Kang Jin-hyuk, an analyst at Shinhan Securities.
"Expectations on the value chain driving further gains in the domestic market are rising again."
The tech-heavy Kosdaq also gained ground, rising more than 1 percent after breaking above the 1,200 level for the first time in about 25 years last Friday. It was the first time the index had returned to the level since the dot-com bubble in 2000.
The Korean won was quoted at 1,477.6 per dollar at the opening of onshore trading, weakening by 6.9 won from the previous session. It, however, slightly strengthened to the 1,470 level as of 2 p.m., tracking gains in the local stock market.
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