Korean Shares Rise on Auto, Financial Gains

The benchmark KOSPI rose 1% to close at 5,354 on Wednesday, extending gains for a third consecutive session, supported by strength in the auto and financial sectors. Hyundai Motor (+4.89%) and Kia Corp (+4.07%) led the automaker rally, while KB Financial (+3.60%), Shinhan Financial (+1.94%), and Hana Financial (+3.23%) drove advances in banking. Meanwhile, semiconductor giants recorded losses, with Samsung Electronics down 0.48% and SK Hynix falling 1.37%. Investors weighed a mix of economic releases, initially buoyed by strong early February trade data. South Korea’s exports rose 44.4% year-on-year to $21.39 billion in the first 10 days of the month, providing a boost to market sentiment. However, optimism was tempered by weaker-than-expected January jobs data, which showed employment rising by only 108,000, or 0.4% from a year earlier, the slowest on-year growth in 13 months.

The benchmark KOSPI edged up by 0.07% to close at 5,302 on Tuesday, extending gains for another session, as South Korean equities followed overnight advances on Wall Street. Market sentiment improved as investors grew less concerned about elevated valuations in artificial intelligence–related stocks, while attention shifted to key US macroeconomic data due later this week. US markets closed higher overnight, with the Nasdaq Composite rising 0.9% and the S&P 500 adding 0.47%, supported by renewed buying in major technology shares. In Seoul, heavyweight stocks were mixed, with gains in Hyundai Motor (+0.52%) and Kia Corporation (+0.59%), while auto, energy, and defense stocks declined, including LG Energy Solution (-1.01%), SK Square (-3.55%), Hanwha Aerospace (-3.94%), and Doosan Enerbility.

The benchmark KOSPI climbed 4.10% to close at 5,298 on Monday, rebounding from the previous week’s losses and pushing toward fresh record highs as investors returned to risk assets following a sharp tech-led sell-off. The market had slipped late last week in line with Wall Street’s tech slump on AI valuation concerns, but sentiment improved after US stocks rebounded on Friday, spurring bargain buying across Asian markets. Broad-based sector strength was evident across the index, with notable gains in Samsung Electronics (+5.74%), SK Hynix (+6.08%), SK Square (+10.12%), Hanwha Aerospace (+5%), and Doosan Enerbility (+7.75%). Samsung Electronics shares jumped as excitement grew around its high-bandwidth memory technology. The company is set to begin mass production of sixth-generation HBM4 chips this month and begin shipments to Nvidia shortly after the Lunar New Year, supporting the US chipmaker’s next-generation AI accelerator lineup.