(Yonhap)
South Korean chipmaker Samsung Electronics Co. saw its stock price surge nearly 4 percent on Thursday morning, climbing back above 220,000 won ($148.82).
Samsung Electronics shares were trading at 225,750 won as of 9:13 a.m., up 3.79 percent from the previous session.
The stock opened 2.53 percent higher at 223,000 won and at one point jumped 4.37 percent to 227,000 won.
This surpassed its previous intraday high for the year, recorded on February 27 at 223,000 won, before the outbreak of the conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran.
The rally was attributed to strong momentum in artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks on Wall Street overnight, where the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 2.72 percent, marking its 16th consecutive day of gains.
SK hynix Inc. shares were also up 1.72 percent at 1.24 million won.
The stock had opened 0.25 percent lower at 1.22 million won due to a profit taking pressure but quickly recovered and turned higher.
The rebound was driven by its record-breaking first-quarter results announced before the market opened, with operating profit reaching 37.61 trillion won, up 405.5 percent year on year.
Separately, brokerage-related stocks also gained ground on Thursday as the benchmark Kospi broke above the 6,500 level for the first time in history.
Shares of Kiwoom Securities Co. were trading at 458,000 won as of 9:26 a.m., up 3.15 percent from the previous day, after opening 3.94 percent higher and briefly surging 5.63 percent to 469,000 won.
LS Networks Co. was up 5.85 percent, Sangsangin Investment & Securities Co. up 10.69 percent, Korea Investment Holdings Co. up 1.74 percent, Samsung Securities Co. up 3.2 percent, Meritz Financial Group Inc. up 0.35 percent, and Kyobo Securities Co. up 1.09 percent
The gains were attributed to continued strength in domestic stock indices following a rally in the three major U.S. indexes overnight.
Despite lingering uncertainty over potential negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, investor sentiment improved on expectations of strong first-quarter earnings from U.S. companies led by AI-related industries.
Meanwhile, shares of Hyundai Motor Co. rose slightly ahead of its first-quarter earnings announcement later in the day.
The stock was trading 0.18 percent higher at 542,000 won as of 9:20 a.m.
It had risen more than 1 percent shortly after the market opened but later pared gains.
According to a consensus compiled by Yonhap Infomax based on reports from securities firms over the past month, the company’s first-quarter revenue is expected to rise 3.02 percent on year to 45.75 trillion won, while operating profit is projected to fall 26.28 percent to 2.68 trillion won.
Industry analysts expect revenue growth driven by strong vehicle sales, but note that profitability likely weakened compared to last year due to the impact of U.S. tariff policies.
However, Hyundai Motor is still expected to show improvement, supported by its core business as well as momentum in physical AI and robotics, they noted.
“Hyundai Motor is likely to achieve stable earnings improvements despite the impact of the U.S.-Iran conflict, and its growth trend centered on hybrids and sport utility vehicle (SUV) models is expected to continue,” said Lee Jae-il, an analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities Co.
He raised the target price for the company to 1 million won.
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