Employees celebrate at the dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, Wednesday, as the KOSPI surpasses the 7,000 mark for the first time. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

The KOSPI closed above the 7,000 mark for the first time on Wednesday, just about two months after crossing 6,000 points, extending its rally and repeatedly setting new record highs despite ongoing Middle East tensions.

The KOSPI’s total market capitalization also surpassed 6,000 trillion won ($4.1 trillion) for the first time. The combined market capitalization of the KOSPI and Kosdaq had earlier exceeded the 6,000 trillion won mark on April 27.

So far this year, Korea’s benchmark stock index has surged more than 70 percent from Dec. 30, 2025, fueled by strong liquidity driven by expectations for the artificial intelligence (AI) industry and earnings growth at semiconductor companies.

This marks the fastest rally among G20 markets. Over the same period, Taiwan’s TAIEX index has risen about 40 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 has gained around 18 percent.

Notably, the KOSPI had dropped to 2,293.70 at the close on April 9, 2025, amid turbulence linked to U.S. tariff policy uncertainty, but has since surged nearly threefold in just over a year.

The KOSPI opened at 7,093.01, up 2.25 percent from the previous session, quickly breaching the 7,000 level after the opening bell. It maintained its upward momentum and ultimately finished at 7,384.56, up 447.57 points, or 6.45 percent.

With the index soaring, a sidecar, which temporarily halts program buying, was triggered at 9:06 a.m., according to the Korea Exchange. The measure is implemented when KOSPI 200 futures rise 5 percent or more from the reference price and remain at that level for at least one minute, suspending program buy orders for five minutes.

The recent rally has been underpinned by sharp upward revisions in earnings forecasts for major domestic semiconductor firms, amid expectations that a supply crunch driven by global Big Tech’s aggressive investment in AI infrastructure will persist for several years.

On Wednesday, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix shares climbed 14.41 percent and 10.64 percent, respectively.

Source: Korea Times News