SEOUL, Feb 25 (AJP) - KOSPI, on a record-setting ride, climbed above the 6,000 mark on Wednesday, less than a month after it tested 5,000, as South Korean retail investors flooded into the red-hot market on bullish forecasts of a further run toward 8,000.
As of 9:45 a.m., the KOSPI added 1.07 percent to 6,032.92, with retail buying overwhelming institutional profit-taking.
After a stunning 76 percent gain last year, the benchmark has remained unfazed in 2026, soaring 41.66 percent as of Tuesday and extending its rally less than a month after topping the much-touted 5,000 milestone on Jan. 27.
The KOSPI’s performance, coupled with the secondary KOSDAQ’s gain of around 26 percent so far this year, is unrivaled globally - the S&P 500 has gained 1.54 percent and the Nasdaq has slipped 0.11 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 up 13.87 percent and Taiwan’s TAIEX rising 19.81 percent.
Foreign investment banks have been raising their targets from 7,000 and recently to 8,000 by Nomura Securities, betting on the exceptional artificial intelligence boom driven by Korean chipmakers and component producers.
Korean retail investors have shown signs of returning from overseas markets, with customer deposits for local stock investment reaching 108.29 trillion won as of Monday after topping 100 trillion won for the first time late last month.
Foreign investors, meanwhile, have been taking profits, selling a net 13.8 trillion won worth of KOSPI shares so far this month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.
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