Chip stocks led by SK hynix and Samsung Electronics extend blistering rally despite hawkish Fed signals A financial market display at KB Kookmin Bank's headquarters in western Seoul shows the benchmark Kospi breaching the 9,000-point mark during trading on Thursday. (Yoon Chang-bin/The Korea Herald) The South Korean benchmark Kospi breached the 9,000-point threshold in intraday trading for the first time on Thursday, powered by a rally in semiconductor heavyweights as investors shrugged off the US Federal Reserve's hawkish policy stance.The index opened 0.23 percent higher at 8,884.92 and extended its gains to break above the 9,000-point mark for the first time during trading. It climbed as high as 9,040.52 during the session as of press time. As of 2:30 p.m., it stood at 9,011.61, gaining 1.66 percent.The milestone came just 16 trading sessions after the index first closed above the 8,000 level on May 26.The benchmark has been on a blistering rally, more than doubling from its Jan. 2 close of 4,309.63. A year earlier, the index was trading below the 3,000-point mark, ending the session at 2,972.19 on June 18, 2025.Semiconductor heavyweights led the rally. Shares of SK hynix rose 6.86 percent from the previous session to 2.7 million won ($1,770), extending gains to a new high just a day after surpassing the 2.5 million won mark for the first time on Wednesday.Samsung Electronics also advanced 2.16 percent to 354,000 won, maintaining its upward momentum.The debut of single-stock leveraged ETFs tied to the two chipmakers in May further fueled gains by channeling fresh investment into the shares.Given their hefty weightings of 28.17 percent and 25.84 percent in the Kospi, respectively, the two stocks together account for more than half of the benchmark index, amplifying their impact on its performance.Other heavyweight stocks posted strong gains as well, with Samsung Electro-Mechanics jumping 9.2 percent and SK Square adding 6.64 percent.In the main bourse, retail investors net bought 369.9 billion won, while foreign investors scooped up 22.4 billion won. Institutional investors offloaded 323.6 billion won.In contrast to the Kospi's rally, the secondary Kosdaq market remained under pressure.The junior bourse opened 0.21 percent lower at 1,029.81, but extended its losses after the opening bell and briefly slipped below the 1,000-point mark. As of 2:30 p.m., the index stood at 1,001.66, down 2.94 percent on-session.Market analysts project the benchmark index to reach the 10,000-point mark in the near term."The economy and corporate earnings continue to provide strong momentum despite concerns over higher interest rates," said Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities."The Kospi's 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio has only recently recovered to around eight times. Valuation normalization alone could be enough for the Kospi to reach the 10,000-point mark."