South Korean shares start week higher as chipmakers jump; won hits near 2-year high

SEOUL: Round-up of South Korean financial markets:

South Korean shares rose on Monday, driven by chipmakers on optimism around strong demand for AI investments, while the won hit a near two-year high amid expectations of continued dollar selling by major exporters.

The benchmark KOSPI was up 196.57 points, or 2.94%, at 6,883.78, as of 0123 GMT.

Earlier in the session, it rose as much as 3.5% to hit its highest intraday level since August 27.

Wall Street weakened on Friday, but the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index was a clear outperformer, gaining 3.4%.

South Korea’s exports so far this year have surpassed last year’s annual record, as the economy rides high on booming global demand for AI chips.

Chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose 3.72% and peer SK Hynix gained 6.01%, leading the benchmark index higher.

Among other index heavyweights, battery maker LG Energy Solution climbed 0.14%, while Hyundai Motor and sister automaker Kia Corp were up 1.69% and 0.32%, respectively.

Steelmaker POSCO Holdings shed 1.19%, while drugmaker Samsung BioLogics rose 0.14%.

Of the total 909 traded issues, 438 shares advanced, while 406 declined. Foreigners were net buyers of shares worth 789.2 billion won ($590.45 million).

The won was quoted at 1,335.8 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform, 1.07% higher than its previous close at 1,350.1.

The won hit its strongest level since October 2024.

In money and debt markets, September futures on three-year treasury bonds gained 0.07 point to 103.24.

The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield fell by 0.8 basis point to 3.875%, while the benchmark 10-year yield fell by 2.7 basis points to 4.334%. ‑Reuters