South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index surged past 6,300 points on Thursday, February 26, 2026, driven by strong gains in semiconductor stocks Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, according to reports from multiple news outlets.
The Kospi closed at 6,307.27, a 3.67% increase from the previous day’s close of 6,083.86, marking a new all-time high. The rally was fueled by positive performance from U.S. Chipmaker Nvidia, which influenced investor sentiment, and robust trading in domestic semiconductor giants.
Samsung Electronics saw a 7.13% jump in its share price, finishing at 218,000 won after gaining 14,500 won. SK Hynix experienced an even larger increase, rising 7.96% to close at 1,099,000 won, also reaching a record high. Combined, the market capitalization of the two companies exceeded 2,000 trillion won.
Notably, Samsung Electronics’ market capitalization surpassed 1.20 trillion U.S. Dollars during the trading day, making it the first South Korean company to join the trillion-dollar market cap club. According to reports, institutional and individual investors contributed to the index’s rise, with net purchases of 880.8 billion won and 224.7 billion won respectively. Foreign investors, however, continued a six-day streak of net selling, offloading 1.2837 trillion won worth of shares.
Earlier in the week, on February 24th, the Kospi had already approached the 6,000 mark, closing at 5,969.64, a 2.11% increase. The Kosdaq index also rose, gaining 1.13% to reach 1,165.00. These gains were also attributed to the strong performance of memory chip manufacturers.
As of February 25th, Samsung Electronics was trading at 203,500 won, up 1.75% from the previous day, while SK Hynix closed at 1,018,000 won, a 1.29% increase. The combined market capitalization increase of Samsung Electronics, Samsung Electronics preferred shares, and SK Hynix accounted for 33.1% of the overall increase in market capitalization on the Seoul stock market.
