KOSPI Holds Above 7,000 for Second Day as Record Chip Exports Ease Samsung Concentration Risk Once Again

SEOUL — South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index held above the psychologically significant 7,000 mark for a second consecutive session Tuesday, closing at 7,017.91, up 10.19 points, or 0.15%, as record semiconductor export data continued to underpin one of the strongest stock market rallies anywhere in the world this year.

Tuesday's modest gain followed a sharp advance Monday, when the KOSPI surged 1.65% to close at 7,007.72, reclaiming the 7,000 level for the first time in seven trading sessions. That rally was driven primarily by a jump in Samsung Electronics shares, which climbed 4.98% Monday to trade back above 270,000 won for the first time in ten sessions, after South Korea reported record semiconductor exports for the first three weeks of September.

According to the Korea Customs Service, total exports reached $71.4 billion between September 1 and 20, up 78.3% from the same period a year earlier. Chip exports specifically more than tripled to $34.12 billion, a 259.4% increase that marked a new monthly record for the category. Separate figures tracking memory chip exports specifically showed an even sharper jump, surging 350.7% from a year earlier over the same three-week window, reaffirming the strength of underlying demand from global customers building out artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Institutional investors led the buying that drove Monday's rally, purchasing a net 1.49 trillion won worth of shares, according to data from the Korea Exchange. The rally did lose some steam by the close of Monday's session, as foreign investors turned net sellers and some retail investors moved to lock in profits after the sharp intraday gains, pulling the index back from its session high before it ultimately settled at 7,007.72.

One notable structural shift accompanying this week's rally has been a reduction in the KOSPI's reliance on just two dominant chipmakers. The combined weight of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix in the index's total market capitalization fell to 51.28% as of Tuesday, down from a June peak of 57.11%, according to data cited by Seoul Economic Daily. Market analysts have described that easing concentration as a healthy development for the broader index, since a market as heavily weighted toward just two stocks as the KOSPI had become earlier this year leaves the entire benchmark unusually vulnerable to company-specific swings in either Samsung or SK Hynix. With that concentration now moderating, some analysts have suggested the index may be better positioned to break out of the range-bound trading pattern that had persisted for more than two months before this week's advance.

Not every signal facing Korean markets this week has been positive. The yield on the U.S. 30-year Treasury bond climbed above 5.3%, raising concerns among some investors about the prospect of prolonged losses in long-duration bond holdings, a dynamic that can weigh on broader risk appetite even as equity markets like the KOSPI continue climbing on stronger fundamentals. Investors have also remained closely focused on an upcoming summit between the United States and China, at which artificial intelligence, tariffs and rare earth minerals are all expected to be discussed, with the outcome seen as having potential implications for global trade flows and technology supply chains that could directly affect South Korea's export-dependent economy.

Tuesday's session also saw continued strength across a range of other major Korean companies. Samsung Electro-Mechanics rose 3.78%, LG Electronics gained 6.42%, SK Inc climbed 2.09%, and Doosan Enerbility and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries each posted gains above 1%, reflecting broad-based strength extending well beyond the two largest chipmakers that have historically dominated the index's overall performance.

The KOSPI's climb above 7,000 this week caps an extraordinary run for South Korean equities over the past year. The index first crossed the 7,000 threshold on an intraday basis back on May 6, closing that day at a then-record 7,384.56, part of a rally that saw the benchmark climb roughly 75% year-to-date at that point, following a 76% gain in 2025 that itself marked the index's strongest annual performance since 1999. Since that initial breakout, the KOSPI has moved above and below the 7,000 level repeatedly, reflecting the volatility that has characterized trading throughout the year even as the index's longer-term trajectory has remained firmly upward. According to Trading Economics, the KOSPI is now up more than 104% compared with the same time last year, and has gained more than 6% over just the past month alone.

Samsung Electronics separately unveiled its next-generation HBM4 memory chip this week, a product the company is positioning to strengthen its position in the global market for high-bandwidth memory used in AI accelerators, adding a further company-specific catalyst to the broader export-driven rally that has lifted the stock in recent sessions.

With the KOSPI having now closed above 7,000 in back-to-back sessions for the first time in several weeks, and with record chip export data continuing to reinforce the underlying fundamentals behind the rally, investors are likely to watch closely in the coming sessions for confirmation of whether the index can sustain its break out of the range-bound pattern that defined much of the summer, or whether renewed pressure from rising long-term bond yields and unresolved trade tensions between the U.S. and China will reassert themselves as headwinds heading into the final months of the year.

Source: https://www.ibtimes.com.au/kospi-holds-above-7000-chip-export-growth-1875742