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Kospi soars past 5,500 mark to hit new record on gains in chips, Japanese bourse

Published: 12 Feb. 2026, 18:11 Updated: 12 Feb. 2026, 19:14

JIN MIN-JI
[email protected]

Electronic display boards at Woori Bank in central Seoul show financial markets on Thursday. The Kospi closed at an all-time high of 5,522.27 points, up 3.13 percent, led by strong gains for chip companies. [NEWS1]

The Kospi surged past the 5,500 mark to a fresh high on Thursday as it jumped more than 3 percent to extend its rally to a fourth consecutive session, buoyed by strength in chip stocks and recent gains in the Japanese market, which often moves in tandem with Korea’s.

The Kospi closed at 5,522.27, up 3.13 from the previous day, in a session largely led by foreigners and institutions that net purchased 3 trillion won ($2.08 billion) and 1.37 trillion won, respectively. Retail investors net sold 4.45 trillion won on profit taking.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics surged 6.44 percent to 178,600 won, as the world’s largest memory chipmaker announced that it has begun the first commercial shipment of its sixth-generation high bandwidth memory chips, or HBM4, to become the first company in the world to commercialize the advanced chip for AI computing. It was the first time Samsung crossed the 170,000 won mark.

SK hynix, another major memory chipmaker, rose 3.26 percent to 888,000 won, while Hanmi Semiconductor, a major chip equipment maker, surged nearly 10 percent to 209,500 won.

The semiconductor rally followed a surge in Micron’s stock. The U.S. memory chipmaker jumped nearly 10 percent on Wednesday after CFO Mark Murphy confirmed that shipments to customers of its HBM4 are already underway — noting that the development is occurring a year ahead of the company's initial expectations. Investment banks have raised their price targets on the stock, with Morgan Stanley lifting its target to $450 from $350 and Deutsche Bank increasing its target to $500 from $300, citing an improved margin outlook driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence memory chips.

Local battery makers also posted strong gains, with industry leader LG Energy Solution climbing 4.59 percent to 410,000 won. Other gainers included AI-focused investment firm SK Square that surged 7.14 percent to 570,000 won, and Shinhan Financial Group that advanced 5.05 percent to 106,000 won.

The new Samsung HBM4 chip is shown in this photo released by Samsung Electronics on Feb. 12. [YONHAP]

Some experts say the Kospi is benefiting from the strong Japanese market.

“The victory of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party in the general election has created the conditions for expansionary fiscal policy,” said Lee Won, an analyst at Bookook Securities. “As both Korea and Japan are major manufacturing economies in Asia, the strong performance of the Japanese stock market this week has also helped attract foreign investor demand to the Korean market.”

The Nikkei 225 has been on a record-breaking spree, crossing 58,000 for the first time on Thursday, fueled by "Takaichi trade," which involves a weaker yen and rising equities.

The Kospi surged despite a stronger-than-expected job report in the United States, which added 130,000 jobs in January. A strong labor market could dampen expectations for rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve, potentially posing a drag on stocks.

The tech-heavy Kosdaq edged up 1 percent to 1,125.99. Market heavyweight EcoPro, a battery manufacturer, rose 1.97 percent to 155,500 won, while EcoPro BM, a battery materials producer, jumped 3.5 percent to 207,000 won. The won traded at 1,440.2 against the dollar at 3:30 p.m., strengthening 0.7 percent from 1,450.1 the previous day.

BY JIN MIN-JI [[email protected]]