Korean Stock Market Overcomes Trump: "Five Thousand KOSPI, Thousand KOSDAQ" Era Begins

KOSPI and KOSDAQ Rally Together
Telecommunications, Electronics, and Securities Lead Gains
SK Hynix Surges Nearly 9%

Despite renewed concerns over tariff risks stemming from comments by U.S. President Donald Trump, expectations for strong earnings prevailed, leading both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ to close at record highs on January 27.

On January 27, the KOSPI index closed at 5,084.85, up 135.26 points (2.73%) from the previous trading day. The index had opened at 4,932.89, down 16.70 points (0.34%), and fell as low as 4,890.72 in early trading, but quickly recovered and turned bullish. Foreign investors net purchased 849.7 billion won, and institutions net purchased 237.4 billion won. Individual investors, on the other hand, net sold 1.0198 trillion won.

On the 27th, officials are celebrating in the Woori Bank dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

By industry, telecommunications (7.52%), electrical and electronics (4.90%), securities (4.43%), and medical precision devices (3.33%) showed strong gains. In contrast, transportation equipment and parts (-1.08%), pharmaceuticals (-0.80%), and entertainment and culture (-0.78%) declined.

Among large-cap stocks, SK Hynix, which has now been dubbed an "80 trillion won club" semiconductor giant, stood out with an 8.70% increase. Other notable gainers included SK Square (7.26%), KB Financial Group (5.54%), Samsung Electronics (4.87%), Shinhan Financial Group (4.49%), NAVER (3.30%), Samsung Electronics Preferred (2.61%), Doosan Enerbility (1.96%), and Korea Zinc (1.33%). On the other hand, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (-2.81%), Hanwha Aerospace (-2.54%), LG Energy Solution (-1.80%), Celltrion (-1.63%), Hyundai Mobis (-1.18%), and Kia (-1.10%) declined.

Initially, investors were highly alert to tariff risks triggered by President Trump. On January 26 (local time), President Trump posted on the social networking service Truth Social, stating, "The Korean National Assembly is not fulfilling its agreement with the United States," and announced, "Since the Korean National Assembly has not legislated the historic trade agreement, which is within its authority, tariffs on automobiles, wood, pharmaceuticals, and all other reciprocal tariffs on Korea will be raised from 15% to 25%."

Jungeun Lim, a researcher at KB Securities, said, "After President Trump's remarks, there was selling pressure in the automotive sector during the session, but the decline was pared back due to expectations of the so-called 'Trump TACO' (Trump Always Chickens Out) scenario and a revaluation of robot-related stocks' valuations."

The KOSDAQ index closed at 1,082.59, up 18.18 points (1.71%) from the previous trading day, maintaining the "thousand-point KOSDAQ" for a second consecutive day. Institutional investors led the rally with net purchases totaling 1.6518 trillion won. In contrast, individual investors sold a net 1.4598 trillion won, and foreign investors sold a net 110.9 billion won.

Among KOSDAQ large-cap stocks, notable gainers included Leeno Industrial (10.62%), Wonik IPS (7.28%), Samchundang Pharm (6.39%), Ecopro (6.30%), HLB (5.07%), Kolon TissueGene (4.69%), LIG ChemBio (3.93%), EO Technics (3.56%), Robotis (3.39%), and Ecopro BM (2.15%). On the other hand, Rainbow Robotics (-4.27%), PharmaResearch (-2.00%), and Classys (-1.54%) ended weaker.

Researcher Lim added, "After surpassing the 1,000-point mark the previous day, KOSDAQ continued to see inflows of passive funds, especially from financial investment institutions. Although further gains are possible, there are concerns that, as with the KOSPI, improvement in fundamentals is necessary. It is important to focus on sectors with strong earnings momentum."