▲ The dealing room at Hana Bank in Seoul on April 29, 2026 (Yonhap)

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Seoul stocks end at fresh record high on revived hope for AI boom

SEOUL, April 29 (Yonhap) -- Seoul stocks closed at a fresh peak on Wednesday, just an inch away from the 6,700 mark, as investors bet chip demand will remain solid amid woes over the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 49.88 points, or 0.75 percent, to a fresh record high of 6,690.90 after rising as high as to 6,716.20, extending its gains to a third consecutive day.

The KOSPI had opened lower tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, sparked by a slump in tech heavyweights on a report that an executive from OpenAI, the founder of ChatGPT, raised concerns over its revenue and user targets.

But the KOSPI turned higher in the afternoon as the Financial Times reported that investors are betting on a prolonged boom for memory chipmakers amid continued AI demand.

The market's record-breaking run came after the market experienced a severe rout since the outbreak of war in the Middle East.

After surpassing the 5,000-point mark in late January and topping another milestone of 6,000 points in February, the KOSPI erased most of its gains in March following the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran war.

But continued hope for the AI boom pushed up major tech shares amid eased tension in the Middle East.

Market top-cap Samsung Electronics, the world's leading memory chipmaker, climbed 1.8 percent to 226,000 won, paring earlier losses after the report.

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