Officials work at a dealing room in Hana Bank, in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
Korean stocks opened at a new record high Wednesday, driven by strong gains in semiconductor stocks amid renewed tensions in the Middle East in search of a peace deal.
Opening 2.42 percent higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) spiked 372.76 points, or 4.63 percent, to 8,420.27 as of 9:15 a.m.
As stocks extended gains, a buy-side order in the KOSPI futures was suspended for five minutes at 9:06 a.m., according to the Korea Exchange.
The index closed at 8,047.51 on Tuesday, surpassing the 8,000-point threshold for the first time in history.
It took just three weeks for the KOSPI to climb from the 7,000 level reached on May 6 to the unprecedented 8,000 territory.
Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record closing highs as investors scooped up AI-related shares, while recent U.S. strikes on Iran dampen prospects for peace in the Middle East.
The S&P 500 gained 0.61 percent and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.19 percent, while chipmaker Micron surged 19 percent to hit $1 trillion in market value for the first time.
In Seoul, market bellwethers Samsung Electronics jumped 7.02 percent and SK hynix spiked 9.99 percent.
Hanmi Semiconductor, a chip manufacturing equipment company, added 1.98 percent, and AI investment firm SK Square surged 12.02 percent.
Source: Korea Times News
