KOSPI above 7,800 on bullish run of chip shares

Seoul, May 11 South Korean stocks were trading at a fresh record high of above 7,800 points on late Monday morning, boosted by an extended rally of blue chip semiconductor shares, despite woes over the U.S.-Iran peace deal falling apart.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had surged 324.22 points, or 4.32 percent, to 7,822.22 as of 11:20 a.m. after rising as high as 7876.60, reports Yonhap news agency.

The index has been on a record-breaking run for the fifth consecutive session, heading toward the unprecedented 8,000-point milestone.

Due to the sharp rise, a buy-side sidecar was issued at around 9:29 a.m., halting trading for five minutes.

With the bull run, the combined market capitalisation of the KOSPI and the secondary bourse KOSDAQ surpassed 7,000 trillion won (US$4.75 trillion) for the first time in history on Monday.

The combined market cap of the KOSPI and KOSDAQ topped 4,000 trillion won on Jan. 2 and surged to above 6,000 trillion won on April 27.

Monday's surge came even after U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier in the day he cannot accept Iran's peace offer, which raised concerns over a potentially botched peace deal between the United States and Iran.

Major chipmakers here were driving up the KOSPI, tracking recent gains on Wall Street.

On Friday (local time), major U.S. stock indexes closed higher, driven by a surge in chip and artificial intelligence (AI) shares.

Micron soared 15.49 percent, AMD jumped 11.44 percent, and Nvidia rose 1.75 percent.

In Seoul, market top-cap Samsung Electronics surged 6.33 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix skyrocketed 11.68 percent as of 11:20 a.m., both reaching a new high.

AI investment firm SK Square advanced 5.1 percent, and trading firm Samsung C&T climbed 5.21 percent.

Auto giant Hyundai Motor rose 2.45 percent, while its sister Kia added 5.47 percent and its auto-parts making affiliate Hyundai Mobis escalated 7.66 percent.

Major shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy also gained 3.04 percent

Major battery makers were mixed, with LG Energy Solution losing 1.26 percent and Samsung SDI up 1.33 percent.

Electrical shares lost ground, with HD Hyundai Electric down 2.71 percent and LS Electric dropping 3.83 percent.

The Korean won was trading at 1,472.7 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., down 1.0 won from the previous session.

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