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Kospi opens at record high of over 4,800 as rally enters 11th day

Published: 16 Jan. 2026, 09:37 Updated: 16 Jan. 2026, 12:57

A screen in Hana Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi opening on Jan. 16. [YONHAP]

Shares opened at a record high Friday, with the benchmark index rising above 4,800 points for the first time as it enters the 11th straight session of gains.

The Kospi added 9.81 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,807.36 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The index started at 4,820.66, piercing the 4,800-point threshold for the first time in its history, but trimmed earlier gains.

The Korean stock market has been on a bullish run, reaching fresh highs daily since the start of the year.

Overnight, Wall Street finished higher as Taiwan-based chipmaker TSMC's blockbuster results boosted shares of U.S. chipmakers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6 percent, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.25 percent.

In Seoul, market heavyweights traded in mixed terrain.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.9 percent, but its chipmaking rival SK hynix dropped 0.13 percent.

Top carmaker Hyundai Motor climbed 0.36 percent, but its auto parts affiliate Hyundai Mobis declined 1.78 percent.

Naver and NCsoft fell 0.81 percent and 2.97 percent, respectively, after their subsidiaries were eliminated from the government-led competition in selecting developers for homegrown AI foundation models the previous day.

The local currency was trading at 1,471.9 won against the greenback at 9:15 a.m., up 0.15 percent from the previous session of 1,469.7 won.

Yonhap