Kospi spikes over 5%, briefly tops 9,000 again on chip rally after Micron earnings report

Stocks soared by more than 5 percent on Thursday to briefly top the 9,000-point level again, driven by a tech rally ignited by U.S. chip giant Micron Technology's stronger-than-expected earnings report. The local currency fell against the dollar.

The Kospi gained 459.28 points, or 5.42 percent, to close at 8,930.3, following a 3.26 percent gain the previous day.

The index briefly topped the 9,000-point threshold, peaking at 9,044.04.

After finishing at an all-time high of 9,114.55 on Monday, the Kospi has remained in the 8,000-point range since it dived 9.99 percent on Tuesday.

The index pulled off a strong start, with a buy-side sidecar issued shortly after the market opened, as Micron released its stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings, brushing off lingering concerns about the sustainability of an AI rally. A sidecar halts program trading when certain market indexes fluctuate beyond a designated threshold.

Micron is a major beneficiary of the AI infrastructure spending boom, along with Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, thanks to rising demand for memory chips and high bandwidth memory, or HBM.

Trade volume was heavy at 449.3 million shares worth 50.4 trillion won ($32.7 billion), with losers beating winners 588 to 289.

Institutions purchased a net 3.3 trillion won worth of stocks, while foreigners and individuals dumped a net 819.7 billion won and 2.5 trillion won, respectively.

"Micron's strong financial report pushed up semiconductor shares here," Kim Seok-hwan, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities, said. "Airline shares also rose, as the Strait of Hormuz seemed to reopen and global oil prices dropped."

Samsung Electronics jumped 5.29 percent to 358,500 won, and SK hynix surged 13.06 percent to 2.9 million won.

SK Square, the parent of SK hynix, advanced 5.56 percent to 1.9 million won, and Samsung C&T, which holds a stake in Samsung Electronics, soared 7.79 percent to 519,000 won.

Flag air carrier Korean Air vaulted 6.4 percent to 29,100 won, and Asiana Airlines rose 6.2 percent to 7,710 won.

Brokerages were also strong. Samsung Securities rose 3.07 percent to 110,800 won, and Kiwoom Securities gained 7.48 percent to 337,500 won.

The local currency fell 0.15 won from the previous session to trade at 1,542.7 against the dollar at 3:30 p.m.

Yonhap