Home > Business > Finance

Seoul stocks again end at fresh high, inching close to 5,200; won sharply up

Published: 28 Jan. 2026, 18:11

A screen in Woori Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi closing at 5,170.81 points on Jan. 28, 2026, up 85.96 points, or 1.69 percent, from the previous trading session. [YONHAP]

Shares set a new high on Wednesday, inching close to the 5,200-point mark, fueled by gains in chipmakers and battery stocks. The won rose sharply against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi advanced 85.96 points, or 1.69 percent, to 5,170.81.

The Kospi has continued its bull run after topping the landmark 5,000 level on Tuesday. The index has surged almost 20 percent since Jan. 2.

Trade volume was heavy at 578.1 shares worth 29.6 trillion won ($20.8 billion). Losers outnumbered winners 440 to 429.

Retail investors were net buyers with 1.2 trillion won. Foreigners and institutional investors were net sellers, each off-loading 135.1 billion won and 1.04 trillion won, respectively.

"We are seeing persistent anticipation that the semiconductor cycle and demand for AI data centers will continue," said Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst from Daishin Securities.

The country's two chip giants — Samsung Electronics and SK hynix — are scheduled to release their fourth-quarter earnings this week.

Market watchers widely expect their earnings to beat expectations, with local brokerages already upgrading their operating profit forecasts for the two chipmakers.

Further boosting investor confidence were remarks from U.S. President Donald Trump.

On Tuesday, Trump said his administration will "work something out" with Seoul, signaling a conciliatory approach after threatening to raise "reciprocal" tariffs against Korea to 25 percent.

A screen in Woori Bank's trading room in central Seoul shows the Kospi and Kosdaq indexes and dollar-won exchange rate on Jan. 28, 2026. [YONHAP]

Most large-cap shares were trading higher.

The country's two chip giants closed at all-time highs, with Samsung Electronics advancing 1.82 percent to 162,400 won and SK hynix vaulting 5.12 percent to 841,000 won.

Battery and bio shares gathered ground. LG Energy Solution closed up 5.51 percent to 431,000 won, and Celltrion rose 3.31 percent to 218,500 won.

Among the losers were IT shares, partly affected by disagreements seen between the government and the legislature over an envisioned bill on digital assets.

Portal operator Naver fell 1.42 percent to 277,500 won, and messenger app operator Kakao slid 0.64 percent to 61,800 won. The two companies are considered major players in the local stablecoin sector.

The local currency gained 23.7 won from the previous session's close to trade at 1,422.5 against the dollar at 3:30 p.m. This marked the won's strongest level since Oct. 15, 2025, when the local currency closed at 1,421.3 won against the greenback.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys fell 2.7 basis points to 3.067 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds shed 2 basis points to 3.357 percent.

Yonhap