Seoul stocks opened Thursday at a fresh high above 6,700, driven by solid chip demand expectations following strong first-quarter earnings from Samsung Electronics and U.S. big tech firms. The benchmark KOSPI rose as high as 6,739.39 at the opening bell before adding 19.51 points, or 0.29%, to 6,710.41 as of 9:15 a.m. The index had closed at a new peak of 6,690.90 the previous day, marking three straight days of gains.
Investors bet on sustained chip demand after Samsung Electronics reported record first-quarter earnings and U.S. giants Alphabet, Amazon.com, Meta Platforms, and Microsoft beat first-quarter revenue expectations, reviving hopes for an ongoing AI boom.
Overnight U.S. markets closed mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.57% and the S&P 500 off 0.04%, while the Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.04%. International oil prices rallied after U.S. President Donald Trump stated he would not lift a naval blockade of Iran until a nuclear deal is secured with Tehran; Brent crude spiked 6.1% to $118.03 per barrel and WTI jumped 6.95% to $106.88 per barrel.
The KOSPI advance was led by blue-chip tech shares, with Samsung Electronics up 0.77%, rival SK hynix gaining 1.62%, and AI investment firm SK Square jumping 2.41%. Samsung Electro-Mechanics rose 1.09% and LS Electric 1.65%. Leading automaker Hyundai Motor fell 0.72%, while power plant maker Doosan Enerbility dropped 0.77%, HD Hyundai Heavy lost 0.87%, and Hanwha Ocean declined 0.98%.
The Korean won traded at 1,483.9 against the U.S. dollar at 9:15 a.m., down 4.9 won from the previous session. (Yonhap, The Korea Times)
