South Korean shares closed higher Thursday, buoyed by major tech giants, after briefly topping the 5,000-point mark for the first time. The local currency strengthened against the US dollar.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 42.6 points, or 0.87 percent, to close at 4,952.53.
Trade volume was moderate at 544.3 million shares worth 32.5 trillion won ($22.1 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 563 to 315.
Individual investors purchased a net 156.4 billion won worth of shares, while foreigners and institutions offloaded a net 298.2 billion won and 102.6 billion won, respectively.
The Kospi opened sharply higher, jumping nearly 2 percent as it tracked overnight gains on Wall Street, which recovered a significant portion of losses in the previous session on eased geopolitical concerns over Greenland.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.21 percent, and the S&P 500 added 1.16 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index increased 1.18 percent.
Major chipmakers further lifted the Kospi amid continued optimism over artificial intelligence-driven demand. However, the index pared early gains in the afternoon on heavy selling by foreign investors on profit-taking.
"The long-awaited move above the 5,000 level that investors have targeted since last year has become a reality," Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said, noting the semiconductor sector is driving solid growth.
Most large-cap shares finished mixed.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics moved up 1.87 percent to 152,300 won, while SK hynix gained 2.03 percent to 755,000 won. Top battery maker LG Energy Solution jumped 5.7 percent to 417,000 won
In contrast, auto shares, which had powered a recent rally, closed lower. Hyundai Motor went down 3.64 percent to 529,000 won, while its affiliate Kia dropped 4.36 percent to 164,600 won.
The local currency was quoted at 1,469.95 against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., up 1.35 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)
