[Anchor]
After three consecutive days of a nightmarish plunge, the Kospi skyrocketed by over 1,000 points in a single day, breaking all-time records for the largest-ever gain. SK hynix finished the trading session at the daily upper limit for the first time in 17 years, while Samsung Electronics also soared by nearly 27%.
Reporter Hong Yeongjae has the details.
[Reporter]
On the final trading day of a nightmarish July, the stock market ticker finally flashed red.
Yesterday (July 31), the Kospi closed at 6,595.45, surging a staggering 1,001 points, or 17.91%, from the previous session.
It shattered previous records for both the highest percentage gain and the largest point increase in history.
The Kospi had plummeted 1,162 points starting from Tuesday of last week, but recovered 86% of those losses in just one day yesterday.
The Kosdaq also spiked by over 11%, prompting sidecar trading halts for program buying on both the Kospi and Kosdaq markets.
Leading the explosive rally were, once again, the two semiconductor heavyweights.
SK hynix skyrocketed 29.95% to 1.718 million won, hitting its daily ceiling for the first time in 17 years.
Samsung Electronics also surged close to its upper limit, closing up 26.81% at 262,500 won.
Analysts noted that strong earnings reports from major U.S. big tech companies overnight and a sharp rally in semiconductor stocks had a positive impact.
[Interview / Lee Hyo-seop, Head of Financial Industry Research Division, Korea Capital Market Institute : As U.S. big tech earnings announcements are wrapping up, there are signs that AI demand remains robust. Combined with bargain-hunting following the short-term sharp decline, Korea experienced a massive surge.]
News that SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won purchased about 4.8 billion won worth of SK hynix shares in the open market the day before also lent support to the share price.
Meanwhile, foreign investors recorded a historic net purchase of 8.7 trillion won in the Kospi market—including alternative trading amounts via Nextrade at market close—while retail investors sold off 10.3 trillion won, marking a record-high net sale.
(Photo: Choi Ho-jun | Video Editing: Lee So-young | Design: Choi Jin-hoe)
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