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President Lee Jae-myung takes the oath of office at the inauguration ceremony of the 21st president held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on June 4. (Photo: Yonhap News) |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] On June 4, South Korean stocks rose more than 2%, reflecting investor optimism tied to the election of President Lee Jae-myung and the launch of the new administration.
According to the Korea Exchange, the KOSPI index closed at 2,770.84, up 71.87 points (2.66%) as of 3:30 p.m., marking its highest closing level since July 31 of last year (2,770.69) — nearly 10 months ago. The index opened at 2,737.92, gaining 38.95 points from the previous session, and steadily extended its gains throughout the day. The KOSDAQ index also ended the day at 750.21, up 9.92 points (1.34%) from the prior close.
Foreign investors led the rally, net buying KRW 1.051 trillion on the day—the first time since August 16 of last year (KRW 1.205 trillion) that foreign net purchases exceeded one trillion won in a single day. Institutional investors also net bought KRW 205 billion, while individual investors sold KRW 1.226 trillion.
During his campaign, President Lee pledged to usher in a “KOSPI 5000 era” through value-enhancing policies. Market optimism also reflects expectations around amendments to the Commercial Act to strengthen directors’ fiduciary duties to shareholders. Lee Jaewon, a researcher at Shinhan Investment Corp., commented, “With the Democratic Party holding a majority in the National Assembly and more than 1,000 days left until the next general election, the government’s policy momentum is expected to be very strong, which is clearly reflected in the market.”
Semiconductor stocks were among the biggest gainers on the day. SK Hynix opened at KRW 218,000, about 5% higher than the previous day, and closed at KRW 217,500 (up 4.82%). Samsung Electronics also rose 1.76% to close at KRW 57,800. Other semiconductor-related stocks such as Hanmi Semiconductor (+3.50%) and Ligno Engineering (+7.39%) also rebounded.
The overall surge in semiconductor shares followed Nvidia’s return to the top spot in global market capitalization for the first time in four months, which boosted investor sentiment. SK Hynix supplies high-bandwidth memory (HBM)—a critical component for Nvidia’s semiconductor designs—and is the world’s first to mass-produce and deliver the fifth-generation HBM3E.
On June 3 (local time), Nvidia shares closed at $141.22, up 2.8% from the previous day. Its market cap rose to $3.444 trillion, reclaiming the No.1 position from Microsoft for the first time since January 24.
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
