The South Korean benchmark Kospi hit a fresh intraday record Monday, surpassing the 7,800 mark for the first time. The sharp gain triggered a buy-side sidecar.
The Kospi opened at 7,775.31, gaining 3.7 percent from the previous session. The benchmark stock index extended its gains to more than 4 percent, swiftly breaching the 7,800 mark in early trading. It stood at 7,842.1, inching up 4.59 percent as of 9:40 a.m.
The index has continued to set new record highs for four consecutive trading sessions since breaking above the 7,000 threshold for the first time ever on May 6.
Retail investors purchased a net 540.2 billion won ($366.2 million) worth of shares, while foreign and institutional investors sold a net 366.2 billion won and 163.3 billion won, respectively.
Tech shares jumped, tracking gains on Wall Street.
Samsung Electronics surged 7.08 percent to 287,500 won, while SK hynix jumped 11.68 percent to 1.883 million won, both hitting new intraday highs.
silverstar@heraldcorp.com
