It was a day when KOSPI large caps broadly smiled on the wave stirred up by Jensen Huang, the Nvidia chief executive officer (CEO). After the open, the KOSPI index broke above the 8,500 level and went on to top 8,800 intraday.
The KOSPI index closed at 8,788.38, up 3.68% (312.23 points) from the previous transaction day on the 1st. Starting the day at 8,485.67, up 0.11% from the day before, the KOSPI quickly pierced 8,500 and then successively cleared 8,600, 8,700 and 8,800.
As the KOSPI index surged, the exchange triggered a buy sidecar on the Korea Exchange around 11:30 a.m. It was the 11th buy sidecar this year.
On the day, the Korea Exchange was led by financial investment firms among institutions. While foreigners dumped more than 3 trillion won, institutions were net buyers of 2.5854 trillion won. In particular, financial investment firms, where individuals' exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows are tallied, bought 2.7590 trillion won. Individuals were net buyers of 601.7 billion won.
What led the record-breaking rally was strong semiconductor exports and the moves by CEO Jensen Huang. According to May trade data released on the day, exports in May came to $87.75 billion, up 53.2% from a year earlier. That is the highest monthly figure on record. In particular, semiconductor exports surged 169.4%, driving the strong export performance.
Lee Kyung-min, a Daishin Securities researcher, analyzed that "it exceeded earnings expectations for the semiconductor sector and acted as upward pressure on share prices."
On top of that, KOSPI large caps cheered news of CEO Jensen Huang's visit to Korea and his keynote. In a "GTC Taipei" keynote in Taipei, Taiwan, on the day, CEO Jensen Huang said, "The Vera Rubin chip is fully in production now." He added that it is equipped with next-generation high bandwidth memory (HBM4) from SK hynix, Samsung Electronics and Micron.
The researcher noted, "This strengthened investor sentiment toward the semiconductor sector," adding, "Samsung Electronics showed a steep surge on the day, as its upward momentum had recently lagged behind SK hynix."
Samsung Electronics and Samsung Electronics preferred shares jumped 10% and 13%, respectively, on the day. In particular, Samsung Electronics, for the first time ever for a single stock, recorded a market capitalization of 2,000 trillion won.
Ahead of CEO Jensen Huang's visit early this month, expectations piled into large caps with potential for cooperation with Nvidia. In particular, on news of a meeting with LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, LG Electronics and LG also ended higher.
NAVER, where news spread that CEO Jensen Huang would visit the headquarters, as well as Doosan and Samsung SDS, also rose on expectations of cooperation with Nvidia.
In addition, on physical artificial intelligence (AI) momentum, Doosan Robotics, LG CNS and Hyundai Motor also managed to close higher. The researcher explained, "As AI and robot momentum stood out, related large caps led the index strength."
However, the concentration in leading stocks is deepening. The KOSPI advance-decline ratio (ADR) is around 47%, still near the bottom, according to analysis.
Compared with the KOSPI index, the KOSDAQ index could not shake off weakness. At the same time, the KOSDAQ index closed at 1,050.03, down 2.30% (24.77 points) from the previous day. In the KOSDAQ market, foreigners were net buyers of 859.7 billion won, but individuals and institutions were net sellers of 537.7 billion won and 293.3 billion won, respectively.
Kang Jin-hyuk, a senior researcher at Shinhan Investment Corp., explained, "The KOSDAQ index, with most sectors weak, was threatened with falling out of 'Cheonsdaq ("KOSDAQ 1000"),'" adding, "The KOSDAQ ADR fell below 50%, showing broadly weak investor sentiment."