▲ Officials of the Korea Exchange (KRX) celebrate the Korea Composite Stock Price Index surpassing the 8,000-point mark at the KRX office in Seoul on May 26, 2026. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) stocks-open

(LEAD) Seoul shares open at fresh high on tech rally amid renewed tension in Middle East

(ATTN: UPDATES with latest figures, more info in paras 2-3, 8-11; ADDS new photo)

SEOUL, May 27 (Yonhap) -- South 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 US$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.

However, top carmaker Hyundai Motor fell 0.73 percent, and leading battery maker LG Energy Solution dropped 0.75 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,506 won against the U.S. dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 1.7 won from the previous session.

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