South Korean stocks opened at a fresh record high on Thursday, driven by hopes for a US-Iran peace deal and continued gains in chipmakers.
The benchmark Kospi added 53.34 points, or 0.72 percent, to 7,437.9 as of 9:15 a.m. It opened at a record 7,499.07, up 1.55 percent, and touched an intraday high of 7,523.84.
The index had closed at a fresh peak of 7,384.56 on Wednesday after surging 447.57 points, or 6.45 percent.
Overnight, U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed a deal with Iran could be reached before his trip to China on May 14. Washington and Tehran are working on a one-page memorandum to end their war and set a framework for nuclear negotiations.
Samsung Electronics rose 1.88 percent and SK hynix gained 0.81 percent. Hyundai Motor jumped 5.45 percent and Kia added 3.04 percent. The Korean won traded at 1,447 won against the dollar, up 8.1 won from the previous session.
