KOSPI Surges Past 4,300 for the First Time Ever on First Trading Day of 2026

Yonhap News

On January 2, the first trading day of the new year, the KOSPI broke through the 4,300 mark for the first time in history.

On this day, the KOSPI closed at 4,309.63, up 95.46 points (2.27%) from the previous session. Trading volume was provisionally tallied at 403.3 million shares, with a trading value of 17.2705 trillion won.

By investor type, foreign investors stood out with net purchases. Foreign investors made net purchases of 644.6 billion won, driving the index upward. Institutions and individuals recorded net sales of 233.8 billion won and 454 billion won, respectively. In the futures market, institutions and individuals made net purchases of 686.2 billion won and 17.5 billion won, respectively, while foreign investors recorded net sales of 723.5 billion won. In program trading, there was a net sale of 33.6 billion won in arbitrage trades and a net purchase of 456.4 billion won in non-arbitrage trades.

Performance by sector was mixed. The electrical and electronics sector rose by 4.85%, medical precision by 4.82%, manufacturing by 3.19%, securities by 2.61%, pharmaceuticals by 2.54%, entertainment and culture by 2.37%, IT services by 2.22%, machinery and equipment by 1.36%, and real estate by 1.14%. On the other hand, the construction sector fell by 1.75%, telecommunications by 1.6%, electricity and gas by 1.59%, textiles and apparel by 1.54%, non-metallics by 1.42%, metals by 1.09%, and general services by 1.09%.

Among large-cap stocks by market capitalization, performances were also mixed. Samsung Electronics surged by 7.17%, SK Hynix by 3.99%, Hyundai Motor by 0.67%, SK Square by 6.52%, Hanwha Aerospace by 0.53%, Celltrion by 11.88%, and Samsung C&T by 2.3%. In contrast, LG Energy Solution dropped by 2.04%, Samsung Biologics by 0.71%, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries by 0.98%, Doosan Enerbility by 0.13%, and Kia by 0.99%.

The number of advancing stocks was 373, while 523 stocks declined, and 32 stocks remained unchanged. One stock hit the upper price limit.

The KOSDAQ index also closed strong. On this day, the KOSDAQ index rose by 20.1 points (2.17%) to close at 945.57. By investor type, institutions and foreign investors made net purchases of 84.4 billion won and 103 billion won, respectively, while individuals recorded net sales of 182.3 billion won.

Among large-cap stocks by market capitalization, performances were mixed. Alteogen rose by 1.67%, Rainbow Robotics by 4.89%, HLB by 4.13%, Samchundang Pharm by 5.16%, Lino Industrial by 7.63%, and PharmaResearch by 7.69%. In contrast, Ecopro BM fell by 3.34%, Ecopro by 2.75%, ABL Bio by 2.25%, Rigakem Bio by 1.67%, Kolon TissueGene by 10.18%, and Peptron by 2.76%.

Meanwhile, in the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won/dollar exchange rate was trading at 1,444.3 won, up 4.8 won from the previous session.