South Korean shares hit record high on chip rally
- The benchmark KOSPI was up 55.12 points, or 0.62%, at 8,919.36
SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
South Korean shares rose for a sixth straight session on Thursday, hitting an all-time high as chipmakers jumped on AI optimism.
The benchmark KOSPI was up 55.12 points, or 0.62%, at 8,919.36 as of 0127 GMT.
Earlier in the session, the index rose as much as 1.27% to hit a record high of 8,976.55, surpassing the previous peak of 8,933.62 set on June 2, but pared gains before breaching the key 9,000 level.
SK Hynix gained 3.29% to an all-time high, after the chipmaker said it had shipped samples of its latest high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips to major customers. Peer Samsung Electronics rose 0.87%.
Apple plans to raise prices on its products to offset increasing memory and storage chip costs, CEO Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal in an interview.
Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh opened a new era of US monetary policy on Wednesday, with officials agreeing to leave interest rates unchanged despite inflation stuck well above their target. South Korea’s finance minister said authorities would closely monitor market volatility and take stabilising measures if needed.
The Bank of Korea also said it would watch closely.
Among other index heavyweights, battery maker LG Energy Solution slid 3.37%, while Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were down 1.70% and down 3.07%, respectively.
Of the 914 issues traded, 127 shares advanced, while 769 declined.
Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 892.0 billion won ($585.45 million).
The won was quoted at 1,525.0 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 0.62% lower than its previous close at 1,515.5.
The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield rose by 3.8 basis points to 3.743%, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose by 2.3 basis points to 4.100%.‑Reuters