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Kospi almost hits 4,800 at close, won rebounds

Published: 15 Jan. 2026, 17:47

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 4,797.55 points on Jan. 15, up 74.45 points, or 1.58 percent, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Shares continued their blistering bull run Thursday to set a new all-time high, just an inch away from the uncharted territory of 4,800, on strong chip and auto gains. The local currency rose sharply against the U.S. dollar on a verbal intervention from Washington.

The Kospi rose 74.45 points, or 1.58 percent, to finish at a record 4,797.55.

It marked the 10th consecutive day of gains since the beginning of the year.

Trade volume was heavy at 540 million shares worth 23.6 trillion won ($16 billion), with winners beating losers 482 to 389.

Foreign and institutional investors pushed up the index, scooping up a net 334.4 billion won and 1.3 trillion won, respectively. However, individuals dumped a net 1.8 trillion won.

Semiconductor and auto shares were the main drivers of the record-breaking rally.

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chipmaker, jumped 2.57 percent to 143,900 won, and SK hynix advanced 0.94 percent to 749,000 won.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor mounted 2.55 percent to 422,000 won and its sister Kia soared 6.64 percent to 152,500 won.

Korea Zinc, a leading zinc smelter, surged 11.47 percent to 1.44 million won, and steel giant Posco Holdings gained 1.88 percent to 351,500 won.

K-pop powerhouse HYBE rose 2.27 percent to 338,500 won after announcing the world tour schedules of global superstar BTS.

However, Naver sank 4.62 percent to 247,500 won and NCsoft dropped 1.41 percent to 244,000 after their subsidiaries were eliminated from the government-led competition in selecting developers for homegrown AI foundation models.

The local currency was quoted at 1,469.7 won against the greenback at 3:30 p.m., down 0.53 percent from the previous session of 1,477.5 won following U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's remark on the weakening Korean won.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed sharply lower. The yield on three-year Treasurys added 9.4 basis points to 3.090 percent, while the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds rose 8.4 basis points to 3.324 percent.

Yonhap