Dealers at Hana Bank headquarters in downtown Seoul celebrate as the benchmark KOSPI closes at 6,083.86 points Wednesday, up 114.22 points, or 1.91 percent, from the previous session, marking its first close above 6,000 points. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
The benchmark KOSPI hit a record high Wednesday, closing above 6,000 points in an accelerated rally just 30 days after it finished above 5,000 points.
The main index ended at 6,083.86 points, up 114.22 points, or 1.91 percent, from the previous session.
It took three months — from Oct. 27, 2025, to Jan. 27 — for the index to rise from 4,000 to 5,000, closing at 5,084.85 points on Jan. 27, but the latest 1,000-point increase was attained in a much shorter span.
The main index topped the 6,000-point mark at the start of the day, rising 0.89 percent to open at 6,022.70 points.
It largely sustained upward momentum during intraday trading, surging as high as 6,144.71 points, although it dipped to 5,984.28 at one point.
Institutional and retail investors were net buyers of more than 880 billion won ($615.85 million) and 228 billion won in stocks, respectively, while foreign investors were net sellers of 1.2 trillion won.
Wednesday’s rally lifted KOSPI to a cumulative gain of more than 40 percent so far in 2026, far outpacing 2025 when it surged 75.6 percent to post the largest increase among the world’s major stock markets. It remains the world’s fastest-advancing market this year.
Analysts attributed the accelerated rally to prolonged growth in the semiconductor sector — led by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix — and supported by the auto industry, which has recently shrugged off risks related to U.S. tariffs.
The Korean auto sector has been among the hardest hit by the tariffs, which varied by country and product, resulting in fluctuations in its stock prices.
Source: Korea Times News
