South Korea’s Kospi breaks 7,000 as AI chip rally lifts Samsung into US$1 trillion club

[SEOUL] An AI-powered rally in semiconductor shares sent South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index above 7,000 points in a historic first on Wednesday (May 6), with Samsung Electronics breaking the US$1 trillion market-cap barrier.

The Kospi rose as much as 5.8 per cent to a record 7,338.61 in morning trade, helped by booming global demand for artificial intelligence hardware.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each leapt more than 10 per cent, both hitting all-time highs. Samsung’s rally lifted its market capitalisation above US$1 trillion, making it only the second Asian company after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co to cross the milestone.

Earlier, the share market index briefly triggered a rare “sidecar” trading curb after opening sharply higher, following an overnight surge in US chip stocks that pushed the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up 4.2 per cent.

The gains built on a 5.1 per cent rally on Monday, when domestic data showed robust manufacturing activity and trade was led by strong semiconductor demand amid a global rush into AI investment. The market was closed on Tuesday for a public holiday.

So far this year, the Kospi has climbed 74 per cent, after posting a 76 per cent jump in 2025 – its best annual performance since 1999 – helped by the government’s push for market reforms.

“Despite high oil prices and bond yields sparked by Iran war noises, foreign flow conditions are improving on a jump in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and AMD shares,” said Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities.

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices surged 12 per cent in extended trading hours on Tuesday after it forecast second-quarter revenue above market expectations, driven by robust demand for its data-centre chips as cloud-computing companies accelerate spending on AI infrastructure.

In the currency market, the won rose 1.2 per cent to 1,458.9 per US dollar on the onshore settlement platform, hitting its strongest level since Apr 17.

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Broader market sentiment also improved after US President Donald Trump said he would briefly pause an operation to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, citing “great progress” towards a comprehensive agreement with Iran, sending oil prices sharply lower in Asian trading.

Beyond tech, securities firms jumped 9.8 per cent and financial groups rallied 4.1 per cent on Wednesday on hopes that a stock market boom would lift earnings. They were in a minority of 206 gainers among the total 892 traded shares, while 666 declined.

Foreigners were net buyers of local shares worth 1.2 trillion won (S$1.2 billion). REUTERS