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Kospi briefly touches new high before closing lower, breaking four-day winning streak

Published: 13 Feb. 2026, 17:20

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 5,507.01 points, down 15.26 points, or 0.28 percent, from the previous trading session, on Feb. 13. [YONHAP]

Shares closed lower Friday, snapping a four-day winning streak, despite briefly hitting a fresh high in midday trading, as investors braced for a five-day market closure for the Lunar New Year holiday. The local currency fell against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi lost 15.26 points, or 0.28 percent, to end at 5,507.01, after reaching a record high of over 5,580 during intraday trading.

Trade volume was heavy at 1.28 billion shares worth 30.3 trillion won ($21 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 545 to 336.

Foreigners sold a net 974.1 billion won worth of local shares, offsetting 708.4 billion won and 82.4 billion won net purchases by retail investors and institutions, respectively.

Overnight, major U.S. indexes lost ground amid concerns about the potential impact of AI across industries, particularly software.

"Investors moved to take profit following a bullish run this week ahead of next week's extended market holiday in Korea," Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, noting that the KOSPI's momentum is unlikely to be easily undermined.

Korea's stock markets will be closed through Wednesday for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Despite the Kospi's fall, tech giant Samsung Electronics rose 1.46 percent to its highest-ever level of 181,200 won, while the company's preferred stocks soared 4.5 percent to 127,600 won.

Power plant manufacturer Doosan Enerbility rose 1.26 percent to 96,700 won.

Securities firms, in particular, delivered a strong performance on expectations for shareholder return policies, with Shinyoung Securities surging more than 17 percent to 227,500 won and Mirae Asset Securities shooting up 15.36 percent to 61,600 won.

Leading mobile carrier SK Telecom soared 10.9 percent to 86,500 won, and Korea Aerospace Industries jumped 6.77 percent to 176,700 won.

But most big-cap shares lost ground.

Major chipmaker SK hynix dropped 0.9 percent to 880,000 won, and auto giant Hyundai Motor dipped 1.38 percent to 499,000 won.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution shed 3.66 percent to 395,000 won, while defense giant Hanwha Aerospace slid 2.3 percent to 1.1 million won.

The local currency weakened by 4.7 won from the previous session to 1,444.9 per dollar at 3:30 p.m.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys dropped 1.2 basis points to 3.14 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds lost 2.6 basis points to 3.40 percent.

Yonhap