▲ Workers at Hana Bank in central Seoul celebrate the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index breaching the landmark 8,000 points on May 15, 2026. (Yonhap)
▲ A dealing room at Hana Bank in Seoul on May 15, 2026 (Yonhap)

(LEAD) KOSPI-new high

(LEAD) KOSPI briefly hits another historic landmark of 8,000 on AI rally

(ATTN: CHANGES headline, lead; ADDS more info throughout; CHANGES photo)

SEOUL, May 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's stock market entered a new era Friday, briefly touching the historic landmark of 8,000 points, before plunging more than 3 percent in late morning trading.

After opening a tad lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) turned higher to breach the unprecedented 8,000 points, rising as high as 8,046.78.

But the index turned lower again, losing 297.26 points, or 3.72 percent, to 7,684.15 as of 11:20 a.m.

It took just a little over a week for the index to hit the new milestone after topping the 7,000-point mark on May 6.

The index had delivered a record-breaking run for five straight sessions until Monday on the extended rally of semiconductor shares buoyed by an optimistic outlook for continued growth of the artificial intelligence (AI) sector.

The local stock market took a breather Tuesday amid little progress in peace talks between the United States and Iran, but Seoul shares rallied again to end at a fresh peak of 7,981.41 on Thursday.

The KOSPI broke above the 3,000 mark on June 20, 2025, and surpassed 4,000 points on Oct. 27, 2025.

On Jan. 22, it hit 5,000 points during intraday trading and touched 6,000 points on Feb. 25.

Seoul shares gained ground tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, boosted by the strong performance of AI-related shares and a positive evaluation of the ongoing U.S.-China summit.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite closed 0.88 percent higher, and the S&P 500 added 0.77 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.75 percent.

Investor sentiment was uplifted by news that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route, must remain open during their summit in Beijing on Thursday.

On expectations for closer cooperation between Washington and Beijing, Nvidia jumped 4.39 percent, Cisco Systems surged 13.41 percent, Broadcom climbed 5.52 percent and TSMC added 4.48 percent.

But late in the morning, the KOSPI turned lower as concerns over the Middle East crisis loomed again after Trump told foreign news outlets that he will not be much more patient with Iran, urging Tehran to reach a peace deal with Washington.

Most large-cap tech shares here were also losing ground on profit-taking sentiment brewed after the KOSPI hit the 8,000-milestone.

Market top-cap Samsung Electronics plunged 5.41 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix shed 3.71 percent.

AI investment firm SK Square plummeted 4.7 percent, and power plant manufacturer Doosan Enerbility dipped 3.93 percent.

A looming strike by unionized workers at Samsung Electronics was also another concern for investors.

The tech giant's labor union rejected an offer for an additional round of negotiations with management, vowing to proceed with its planned strike next week.

(END)

[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]