Home > Business > Finance

Kospi opens at fresh high above 5,600

Published: 19 Feb. 2026, 09:36 Updated: 19 Feb. 2026, 11:30

YOON SO-YEON
[email protected]

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi trading in the morning hours on Feb. 19, 2026. [YONHAP]

Korean bourse Kospi flew past the 5,600 mark on Thursday after a 5-day break over the Lunar New Year holidays, amid a bullish Wall Street market that rode high on AI stocks on Wednesday.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) opened at 5,642.09, up 135.08 points, or 2.45 percent, from the previous session's close, breaching the 5,600-point mark for the first time, driven by rallies in large-cap tech shares.

The market resumed trading on Thursday after a three-day closure for the Lunar New Year holiday. The last trading day was Friday.

Wall Street gathered ground on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.26 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite grew 0.78 percent, and the S&P 500 went up 0.56 percent.

In Seoul, most big-cap shares gathered ground. In the first 15 minutes of trading, the Kospi added 153.25 points, or 2.78 percent, to stand at 5,660.26. Individual and institutional investors were net buyers, offsetting selling by foreigners.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics soared 4.64 percent, while chip giant SK hynix surged 2.16 percent. Top automaker Hyundai Motor jumped 3.92 percent, while its sister affiliate Kia advanced 2.93 percent. Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution added 0.76 percent, and AI investment firm SK Square climbed 2.33 percent.

Bio giant Samsung Biologics went up 0.88 percent, and Celltrion rose 0.84 percent. Nuclear power plant builder Doosan Enerbility increased 3.1 percent, and defense giant Hanwha Aerospace gained 2.71 percent. Leading shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy and its rival Hanwha Ocean spiked 7.18 percent and 7.01 percent, respectively.

The won started stronger at 1,452.5 won against the greenback at 9:15 a.m., strengthening 7.6 won from the previous session's close of 1,444.9 at 3:30 p.m. Friday.

Update, Feb. 19: Added information about international markets.

BY YOON SO-YEON, YONHAP [[email protected]]