KOSPI Surpasses 9,000 Mark Despite FOMC Concerns

Employees celebrate the KOSPI surpassing 9,000 at Hana Bank's main dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul, on June 18. The KOSPI closed at 9,063.84, up 199.60 points (2.25%). — Employees celebrate the KOSPI surpassing 9,000 at Hana Bank's main dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul. The KOSPI closed at 9,063.84, up 199.60 points (2.25%). [Photo=Yonhap News]

The KOSPI index made history on June 18 by surpassing the 9,000 mark for the first time, despite concerns over the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) hawkish stance. This milestone comes just 22 trading days after the index crossed the 8,000 threshold, marking a significant upward rally.
According to the Korea Exchange, the KOSPI closed at 9,063.84, up 199.60 points (2.25%) from the previous trading day. The index began the day at 8,884.92, up 20.68 points (0.23%), and expanded its gains, reaching 9,000.68 around 12:52 PM, marking its first-ever breach of the 9,000 level. It maintained its upward momentum to close above 9,000.
Foreign investors led the surge, purchasing a net 1.2761 trillion won in the stock market. In contrast, individual and institutional investors sold off 380.6 billion won and 777.5 billion won, respectively, likely to realize profits.
Among the top market capitalization stocks, semiconductor shares were particularly strong. Samsung Electronics rose by 3.90%, SK Hynix by 6.47%, SK Square by 6.95%, Samsung Electro-Mechanics by 8.32%, and Samsung Life Insurance by 4.81%. However, Hyundai Motor fell by 2.43%, LG Energy Solution by 3.73%, Samsung C&T by 1.02%, and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries by 2.69%.
Notably, SK Hynix broke the 2.6 million won mark early in the session, setting a new all-time high.
In contrast, the KOSDAQ index showed relatively weaker performance, closing at 1,000.93, down 31.03 points (3.01%) from the previous day. The index started at 1,029.81 but widened its losses, dipping below 1,000 around 1:08 PM before recovering slightly by the end of the session.
In the KOSDAQ market, individual investors bought a net 392.8 billion won, while foreign and institutional investors sold off 125.3 billion won and 265 billion won, respectively.
Most of the top market capitalization stocks in the KOSDAQ showed declines. Alteogen fell by 0.80%, EcoPro BM by 4.06%, EcoPro by 4.40%, Rainbow Robotics by 2.24%, JUSUNG Engineering by 3.41%, Kolon TissueGene by 5.58%, Rino Technology by 2.96%, HLB by 0.98%, and IO Tech by 0.39%. However, Wonik IPS closed slightly higher, up 0.99%.

* This article has been translated by AI.