Kospi breaks 7,800 points for first time during intraday trading

The benchmark Kospi is displayed on a screen at the main trading room of Hana Bank in Jung District, central Seoul, on May 11. [YONHAP]

 

The benchmark Kospi broke above the 7,800 threshold for the first time intraday on Monday, as a rally in U.S. technology stocks helped lift shares of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix to fresh record highs in early trading despite woes over U.S.-Iran tensions.

 

The benchmark opened at a fresh high of 7,775.31, up 277.31 points, or 3.7 percent, from the previous trading session.

 


 

The index nearly breached the 7,500-point threshold on Friday, closing at a fresh peak of 7,498 points and continuing its record-breaking run.

 

The surge came even after U.S. President Donald Trump said he cannot accept Iran’s peace offer, renewing concerns over the Middle Eastern crisis, as local chipmakers kicked off bullish tracking an overnight gain on Wall Street.

 

Major U.S. stock indexes closed higher on Friday, driven by a surge in chip and AI shares.

 

Micron soared 15.49 percent, AMD jumped 11.44 percent and Nvidia rose 1.75 percent.

 

The local currency strengthened by 5.7 won from the previous session to trade at 1,466 won against the greenback as of 9 a.m.

BY MICHAEL LEE, YONHAP [[email protected]]