KOSPI Hits 9,000 Milestone, Marking New Chapter for Korean Stock Market

[Anchor]

The KOSPI has written a new chapter in history by surpassing the 9,000-point mark. This comes just one month after it broke through the 8,000 level. Despite the U.S. Federal Reserve signaling a potential interest rate hike overnight, semiconductor stocks led a strong rally.

Lee Tae-gwon reports.

[Reporter]

[Congratulations on KOSPI 9,000!]

The KOSPI has reached the unprecedented 9,000-point milestone.

After a slightly higher opening, the index began to climb in earnest around midday.

It surpassed 9,000 and reached as high as 9,106 before closing at 9,063, up 2.25% from the previous trading session.

This marks exactly one month since the index first crossed the 8,000 mark during intraday trading on May 15.

Although major U.S. indices fell overnight as the Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady but hinted at the possibility of future hikes, the Korean market followed a different path.

[Hwang Seung-taek / Head of Research Center, Hana Securities: "Since the market had generally anticipated (the possibility of a rate hike), the impact on the stock market was limited."]

Instead, the market was more significantly influenced by reports that the U.S. and Iran are taking steps toward ending their conflict, as well as comments from Apple CEO Tim Cook, who suggested that rising memory prices would inevitably lead to higher product costs.

Driven by expectations that the semiconductor outlook remains bright, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix surged 4.6% and 6.5%, respectively, both hitting all-time highs.

[Lee Sang-heon / Researcher, iM Securities: "DRAM and NAND prices have been rising since September of last year, and they have increased about fourfold through this year. Such factors are driving expectations for profit growth..."]

The KOSPI, which stood at the 2,900 level a year ago, has tripled in value, bolstered by a semiconductor boom fueled by expanding AI demand.

The KOSPI has risen 115% this year, making it the top-performing major stock market in the world.

Its market capitalization has also reached approximately $5 trillion, ranking 7th globally, following Taiwan and Japan.

As AI innovation continues, analysts suggest that semiconductors—Korea's core industry—have established themselves as an infrastructure industry rather than a cyclical one, signaling that the Korean capital market has moved up to a new level.

(Reported by Choi Ho-jun and Choi Dae-woong | Video edited by Kim Yun-sung | Graphics by Lee Jun-ho and Park Cheon-ung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.