South Korean shares hit record high as automakers rally on AI hopes

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares rose more than 1% to a record high on Monday, led by a rally in automakers on optimism around artificial intelligence and robot technologies.

The benchmark KOSPI ended the session up 63.92 points, or 1.32%, at 4,904.66, marking its highest closing level on record and extending gains to a 12th straight session.

Hyundai Motor jumped 16.22% to an all-time high and logged its steepest daily rise since January 2021, while sister automaker Kia Corp gained 12.18%.

“Automakers and LG Electronics rose on hopes of ‘physical AI’ technologies,” said Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities.

Home appliance maker LG Electronics climbed 8.64%.

HYBE surged 8.92% to its highest since December 2021 after the K-Pop agency unveiled world tour plans for boy band BTS.

Of the total 929 traded issues, 398 shares advanced, while 489 declined.
Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 552.3 billion won ($374.82 million).

The won was quoted at 1,473.7 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.01% higher than its previous close at 1,473.9.

In money and debt markets, March futures on three-year treasury bonds lost 0.12 point to 104.97.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 4.1 basis points to 3.116%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 7.4 bps to 3.560%.