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| 2026-04-29 16:49:11
(2nd LD) stocks-summary
(2nd LD) Seoul stocks end at fresh record high on revived hope for AI boom
(ATTN: ADDS bond yields at bottom; CHANGES photo)
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.
Trade volume was heavy at 712.3 million shares worth 31 trillion won (US$21 billion), with winners outnumbering losers 478 to 362. Foreigners net sold 606.9 billion won worth of local shares, but retail investors and institutions scooped up 167.4 billion000000006 won and 477.7 billion won, respectively.
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.
Its chipmaking rival SK hynix dropped 0.54 percent to 1.29 million won.
"Just one hour after the Financial Times report, foreign investors, who had dumped over 400 billion won in the KOSPI's electrical and electronics sector, trimmed their sell-offs to around 100 billion won," Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities, said.
AI investment firm SK Square jumped 2.34 percent to 830,000 won, and LS Electric surged 4.4 percent to 273,000 won.
Heavy industry shares also gained ground, with power plant manufacturer Doosan Enerbility up 1.1 percent to 129,000 won and defense giant Hanwha Aerospace rising 1.79 percent to 1.42 million won.
Major shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy soared 3.45 percent to 690,000 won, and defense industry leader Hyundai Rotem spiked 7.98 percent to 264,000 won.
LG Chem escalated 3.43 percent to 407,500 won, and battery maker Samsung SDI surged 4.71 percent to 712,000 won.
On the other hand, Samsung Biologics lost 2.06 percent to 1.47 million won and Korea Zinc dropped 1.41 percent to 1.6 million won. Hanmi Semiconductor dipped 2.59 percent to 357,500 won.
The Korean won was quoted at 1,479.0 won against the U.S. dollar at 3:30 p.m., down 5.4 won from the previous session.
Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys shed 0.4 basis point to 3.525 percent, while the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds dropped 1.2 basis points to 3.706 percent.
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