▲ A dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul on May 27, 2026 (Yonhap)▲▲

(2nd LD) stocks-summary

(2nd LD) Seoul shares scale to new peak on extended chip rally

(ATTN: ADDS bond yields at bottom; CHANGES photo)

SEOUL, May 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks rose for the fourth consecutive session to a new peak of over the 8,200-point mark Wednesday, driven by a strong rally by Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 181.19 points, or 2.25 percent, to close at a record 8,288.7, after rising as high as 8,457.09.

The index opened 2.42 percent higher and extended gains to surpass the 8,450-point level early in early trading, with a buy-side sidecar issued to halt the KOSPI futures for five minutes.

Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq clinched all-time closing highs, lifted by surging chip stocks. Chipmaker Micron surged 19 percent to hit US$1 trillion in market value for the first time.

Trading volume was heavy at 615.2 million shares worth 55.8 trillion won (US$37.2 billion), with losers far outnumbering winners 75 to 823.

Individuals purchased a net 403.4 billion won worth of shares and institutions bought a net 189.6 billion won, offsetting a net foreign selling of 448.4 billion won. Foreigners remained net sellers for the 15th consecutive session.

"The two biggest semiconductor shares led the rally," said Kim Seok-hwan, an analyst from Mirae Asset Securities. "Other semiconductor-related shares fell on profit taking."

Samsung Electronics climbed 2.68 percent to 307,000 won and SK hynix soared 9.31 percent to 2.24 million won to become the second South Korean company to top 1,500 trillion won (US$1 trillion) in market value.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronic components manufacturing affiliate of Samsung Electronics, rose 3.69 percent to 1.63 million won, and SK Square, an AI investment firm, surged 8.04 percent to 1.27 million won.

However, most shares ended lower.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor fell 1.16 percent to 681,000 won and its sister Kia dropped 1.38 percent to 164,700 won.

Steel giant POSCO Holdings tumbled 4.19 percent to 423,500 won, and internet firm Kakao retreated 2.29 percent to 40,500 won.

Leading retailer Lotte Shopping declined 3.97 percent to 152,200 won, and cosmetics manufacturer Cosmax fell 2.87 percent to 176,200 won.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,501.2 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., up 3.1 won from the previous session.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys added 4.7 basis points to 3.711 percent, while the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds rose 4.9 basis points to 3.950 percent.

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