Hana Bank employees celebrate the benchmark KOSPI’s historic breakthrough above the 9,000 mark at the bank’s dealing room in Seoul, Thursday. KOSPI closed at 9,063.84, up 2.25 percent from the previous session, fueled by continued strong rallies in SK hynix and Samsung Electronics. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
KOSPI set another record on Thursday, surpassing the 9,000 mark for the first time on a strong rally in large-cap semiconductor and IT stocks. However, the broader market continued to show signs of deepening polarization, with small- and mid-cap stocks increasingly left behind.
According to the Korea Exchange, the benchmark index closed at 9,063.84, up 2.25 percent from the previous session. The index briefly rose as high as 9,106.07 before paring some gains ahead of the closing bell.
Foreign investors led the rally, buying a net 1.44 trillion won ($942.6 million) worth of shares. Retail and institutional investors, meanwhile, offloaded a net 543.9 billion won and 680.3 billion won, respectively.
The secondary Kosdaq market closed at 1,000.93, down 3.01 percent. The index was dragged lower by foreign and institutional selling, despite retail investors’ net purchases.
