KOSPI surges to new peak of above 7,800 on chip gains despite renewed woes over U.S.-Iran peace deal

▲ An electronic signboard at Hana Bank in central Seoul shows the Korea Composite Stock Price Index having breached the landmark 7,800-point mark during intraday trading on May 11, 2026. (Yonhap)

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KOSPI surges to new peak of above 7,800 on chip gains despite renewed woes over U.S.-Iran peace deal

SEOUL, May 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korean stocks closed at a new record high Monday, easily breaching the landmark 7,800-point level, extending the winning streak to the fifth consecutive session, on the back of a bull run by semiconductor shares, despite concerns of a potentially botched peace deal between the United States and Iran.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) surged 324.24 points, or 4.32 percent, to end at a fresh high of 7,822.24 after rising as high as 7899.32.

The index delivered a record-breaking run for the fifth consecutive session, heading toward the unprecedented 8,000-point milestone.

With the bull run, the combined market capitalization of the KOSPI and the secondary bourse KOSDAQ surpassed 7,000 trillion won (US$4.75 trillion) for the first time in history Monday.

The combined market cap of the KOSPI and KOSDAQ topped 4,000 trillion won on Jan. 2 and surged to above 6,000 trillion won on April 27.

Monday's surge was largely driven by a sharp rise in large-cap chip shares, despite concerns the peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran are on the cusp of falling apart.

Earlier in the day, U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran's peace offer is unacceptable, fueling fears the Middle East crisis will continue.

But investors' risk-on appetite was buoyed by optimism over continued growth of the semiconductor demand in line with the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure investment cycle and the recent tech gains on Wall Street, according to Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities.

The analyst said South Korea's monthly chip exports are forecast to reach an all-time high in May.

Seoul's chip exports surged nearly 150 percent from a year earlier in the first 10 days of this month to a record high of $8.54 billion, government data showed earlier in the day.

On Friday (local time), major U.S. stock indexes closed higher, driven by a surge in chip and AI shares.

Micron soared 15.49 percent, AMD jumped 11.44 percent, and Nvidia rose 1.75 percent.

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