Kospi Hits Another Record High to Close at 9,114 Amid Iran Negotiations

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose slightly on Monday (June 22) to close in the 9,100 range.

This marks a record high closing price.

According to the Korea Exchange, the Kospi closed at 9,114.55, up 62.13 points (0.69%) from the previous trading day.

The index opened at 8,954.43, down 97.99 points (1.08%) from the previous session, and fluctuated before finishing higher.

Retail investors drove the index's upward movement.

Retail investors net purchased 2.1217 trillion won on the main board, while institutional investors also posted a net purchase of 330.5 billion won.

In contrast, foreign investors net sold 2.5453 trillion won.

However, in the Kospi 200 futures market, foreign investors net bought 89 billion won.

As of 3:30 p.m., the Korean won was trading at 1,537.0 won against the U.S. dollar in the Seoul foreign exchange market, up 10.0 won from the previous trading day.

The Kospi opened lower following foreign media reports that negotiations between the United States and Iran to implement a peace memorandum of understanding (MOU) were facing difficulties, but rebounded on news of progress in the talks during the trading session.

Although the index fluctuated briefly in the afternoon, it closed on an upward trajectory driven by retail buying.

The United States and Iran, during their first high-level meeting in Switzerland, agreed on a roadmap aiming for a final agreement within the next 60 days, along with establishing a conflict management system related to the Strait of Hormuz and Lebanon.

In addition, they agreed to continue working-level talks this week in the presence of mediating nations.

Meanwhile, the Korea Customs Service announced that semiconductor exports from June 1 to 20 surged 188.4% compared to the same period last year, boosting investor sentiment in the chip sector.

Driven by this, SK Hynix shares rose 5.61% to close at 2,919,000 won, putting the 3 million won mark within reach.

In particular, buying pressure for SK Hynix appeared to be driven by reports that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is imminent in announcing its review results regarding the company's American Depositary Receipt (ADR) listing.

On the other hand, Samsung Electronics common shares fell 0.14%.

Due to the divergent stock performances, the market capitalization of SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics (based on common shares) flipped, reaching 2,080 trillion won and 2,067 trillion won, respectively.

However, when factoring in Samsung Electronics' preferred shares (180 trillion won), Samsung Electronics' total market capitalization still exceeds that of SK Hynix.

Among other large-cap stocks, Samsung C&T (5.80%) and Hanwha Aerospace (0.27%) rose, while Samsung Electro-Mechanics (-1.85%), Hyundai Motor (-5.22%), and LG Energy Solution (-4.70%) declined.

By sector, medical and precision instruments (3.01%), distribution (2.30%), and electrical and electronics (2.02%) advanced, while insurance (-7.61%), transportation and warehousing (-4.70%), and transport equipment and parts (-4.29%) fell.

Among the Kospi-listed stocks, 148 advanced while 742 declined.

Twenty-eight stocks remained unchanged.

The tech-heavy Kosdaq index closed at 968.40, up 1.81 points (0.19%) from the previous trading day.

The index opened at 957.49, down 9.10 points (0.94%) from the previous session, and briefly turned positive but remained weak for most of the day.

However, it managed to rebound just before the closing bell to finish slightly higher.

In the Kosdaq market, foreign and institutional investors net purchased 306.8 billion won and 149.2 billion won, respectively, while retail investors net sold 462.2 billion won.

Among Kosdaq large-caps, semiconductor equipment stocks such as Jusung Engineering (2.49%), Wonik IPS (10.58%), and Fadu (14.30%) advanced, while Alteogen (-0.85%), EcoPro BM (-1.59%), and EcoPro (-1.29%) declined.

In the Kosdaq market, 383 stocks advanced, while 1,297 declined.

Fifty-three stocks ended flat.

The trading volume on the main Kospi and Kosdaq markets stood at 41.847 trillion won and 9.079 trillion won, respectively.

The combined trading volume of the pre-market and main market on Nextrade, an alternative trading system (ATS), totaled 27.5439 trillion won.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.