The KOSPI surpassed the 7,870 level intraday, leaving only 130 points to reach 8,000. Powered by the KOSPI's rally, Korea's stock market capitalization also topped 7,000 trillion won for the first time ever. It took eight trading days to climb past 6,000 trillion won.
As of 11:27 a.m. on the 11th, the KOSPI was up 4.54% from the previous trading day at 7,838.64. The index opened at 7,775.31, up 227.31 points (3.70%) from the previous session, and has been extending gains. It rose as high as 7,876.60 intraday.
The size of Korea's stock market is also expanding quickly. According to Korea Exchange (KRX), as of 10:08 a.m. the combined market capitalization of the KOSPI and KOSDAQ stood at 7,037 trillion 7,977 billion won.
By market, KOSPI market capitalization is 6,367 trillion 6 billion won, and KOSDAQ market capitalization is 670 trillion 7,971 billion won. On the KOSPI, large-cap semiconductor stocks led the index higher, while on the KOSDAQ, a strong trend centered on secondary battery and biotech names continued.
On the main board, individuals and the national pension fund are net buyers of 1.294 trillion won and 213.8 billion won, respectively, driving the index higher. Foreign investors alone are net sellers of more than 2 trillion won.
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which hit record highs, are up in the 6% and 11% range, expanding gains from early trading. On news that Korea and the United States launched the "Korea-U.S. Shipbuilding Partnership Initiative" (KUSPI), shipbuilding stocks such as Samsung Heavy Industries (5.63%) and HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (4.54%) are also strong.
In addition, Kolmar Korea Co., which released record quarterly results for the first quarter, is up more than 8%. APR, COSMAX Inc., and d'Alba Global are also rising on expectations of a broader momentum in cosmetics.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ was down 0.36% (4.34 points) from the previous trading day at 1,205.83.
In the KOSDAQ market, individuals and foreign investors are net buyers of 125 billion won and 88.1 billion won, respectively, while institutions are net sellers of 182 billion won. Foreign investors, who showed selling pressure early in the session, turned net buyers around 10 a.m.
Among top KOSDAQ market-cap stocks, trading is mixed. Rainbow Robotics, Kolon TissueGene, LEENO Industrial, and Jusung Engineering are rising, but EcoPro BM, the No. 1 by market cap, as well as EcoPro, Alteogen, Sam Chun Dang Pharm, and HLB are falling.
Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei 225 also broke above the 63,000 level as semiconductor shares gained, setting an intraday record high.
Nihon Keizai Shimbun said, "U.S. stocks rose over the weekend led by high-tech names, supporting buying sentiment," and noted, "In Tokyo, buying also predominated in artificial intelligence and semiconductor-related shares such as SoftBank Group."