KOSPI 5000 Era Begins: Index Surges Past 5,000 Intraday

The KOSPI surpassed the 5,000-point mark during intraday trading, ushering in the 'KOSPI 5000 era.' This milestone was achieved thanks to a significant rally in the U.S. stock market following the resolution of concerns over Greenland, as well as intraday record highs set by Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor, which have recently driven the index's upward momentum.

As of 9:30 a.m. on January 22, the KOSPI was trading at 5,019.54, up 109.61 points (2.23%) from the previous day. While foreign investors and institutions sold off 219 billion won and 130 billion won worth of shares, respectively, individual investors made net purchases totaling 332 billion won, supporting the index.

Samsung Electronics was trading at 155,700 won, up 4.15% from the previous day. The stock reached an intraday all-time high of 157,000 won. Hyundai Motor rose 3.28% to 560,700 won, also hitting a record intraday high of 590,000 won. SK Hynix also showed strong gains of over 2%.

Overnight, the three major New York stock indices closed higher as the so-called 'TACO (Trump Always Cuts Out on tariffs)' trade resurfaced. This was due to news that the plan to impose tariffs on eight European countries in connection with the Greenland merger had been withdrawn.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 49,077.23, up 1.21% from the previous session. The large-cap S&P 500 rose 1.16%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.18%.

The sell-off in U.S. Treasuries and the dollar also eased somewhat. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield, a global bond benchmark, fell 4 basis points (1bp = 0.01 percentage point) from the previous session to 4.25%. The 2-year U.S. Treasury yield, which is sensitive to monetary policy, remained unchanged at 3.59%. The dollar index, which measures the value of the dollar against the currencies of six major countries, was up 0.15% from the previous day, trading at 98.79.

Semiconductor stocks powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and automobile stocks driven by robotics are being credited as the main drivers behind the KOSPI’s climb past 5,000. Lee Kyungmin, Head of FICC Research at Daishin Securities, said, “The main factors behind the KOSPI reaching 5,000 were semiconductor earnings and ample market liquidity. When semiconductors took a breather, rotational buying kicked in, and an unexpectedly strong momentum in automobiles helped the index surpass 5,000 faster than anticipated.”

With the KOSPI breaking through the 5,000-point threshold, President Lee Jaemyung is scheduled to host a closed luncheon today with members of the 'KOSPI 5000 Special Committee,' who spearheaded the passage of the Commercial Act amendment in the ruling party.