South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index briefly surpassed the historic 4,700-point milestone on January 14, fueled by a tech rally, before edging lower. It reached an intraday high of 4,715.75 points early in the session but fell to 4,680.04 by late morning amid weakness in battery and defense shares. The index has risen over 11 percent since the start of the year, extending its record bull run.
On January 14, Seoul's stock market saw the KOSPI index hit a record high, driven by a rally in technology stocks. It touched 4,706.33 points at 9:02 a.m. and peaked at 4,715.75 by 9:48 a.m., but reversed course to stand at 4,680.04 points, down 0.27 percent or 12.6 points, as of 11:20 a.m.
Early gains were led by semiconductors and biotech shares. Samsung Electronics rose 1.09 percent, while SK hynix fell 0.88 percent. Samsung Biologics climbed 1.52 percent, and SK bioscience gained 1.04 percent. Auto shares were mixed, with Hyundai Motor flat and affiliate Kia surging 5.51 percent. In contrast, battery makers weakened: LG Energy Solution dropped 1.65 percent, and POSCO Future M slumped 4.57 percent. Defense stocks like Hanwha Aerospace declined 2.34 percent, and shipbuilders such as HD Hyundai Heavy Industries sank 4.19 percent.
Hanmi Semiconductor jumped 3.23 percent on a deal to supply high-bandwidth memory equipment to SK hynix. The won traded at 1,478.2 against the dollar at 11:20 a.m., down 4.3 won from the prior session. The KOSPI reached 4,700 just nine trading sessions after closing above 4,300 on January 2. It has advanced more than 11 percent year-to-date, following a 75 percent surge in 2025, underscoring a prolonged bull market. Overnight, U.S. markets dipped, with the Dow Jones falling 0.8 percent and Nasdaq 0.1 percent on financial sector losses.
