KOSPI tops 4,000 points for 1st time in history

An electronic trading board at Hana Bank headquarters in central Seoul shows the benchmark KOSPI closing at 4,042.83 points, Monday, up 101.24 points, or 2.57 percent, from the previous session as it broke 4,000 points for the first time in history. Yonhap

The benchmark KOSPI topped the 4,000-point mark for the first time on Monday, reaching an unprecedented high since the market’s baseline was established at 100 points in 1980.

The KOSPI had previously closed above the 3,000-point mark on June 20, reaching the milestone for the first time in more than three years.

The achievement comes just days before a series of 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, which market observers say could help ease uncertainties surrounding trade-related risks.

The KOSPI closed at 4,042.83 points on Monday, up 2.57 percent from Friday’s close. It started the day at 3,999.79 points, quickly climbing above 4,000 and remaining there for the rest of the session.

Foreign and institutional investors were net buyers of 647.2 billion won ($451.32 million) and 234.2 billion won in stocks, respectively, offsetting the net selling of 796.6 billion won by retail investors.

The KOSPI has been rising for more than a week, and market observers say that the scheduled summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan on Thursday served as a tipping point for pushing the KOSPI past the 4,000-point threshold.

“The U.S.-China summit is directly tied to whether the trade tensions that have caused market volatility will be resolved,” Kiwoom Securities analyst Han Ji-young said.

Han was referring to market sentiment supported by reports that China is expected to postpone restrictions on rare earth exports for a year, lowering the chances of the U.S. imposing their planned additional 100 percent tariffs on Chinese goods.

Another factor behind the KOSPI milestone was the scheduled summit between President Lee Jae Myung and Trump in Gyeongju on Wednesday, the analyst said.

Despite lingering issues, market watchers believe the two leaders could reach a final agreement on long-standing tariff negotiations, which have been deadlocked since the previous summit in Washington on Aug. 25.

In relation to the Lee-Trump summit, reports that Trump may tour domestic shipyards lifted shipbuilding stocks including HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, up 5.05 percent, and Hanwha Ocean, up 3.33 percent.

Among the top market-cap stocks, Samsung Electronics rose above 100,000 won, up 3.24 percent, maintaining its upward momentum, while SK hynix also climbed 4.9 percent to 535,000 won.

Other major market-cap stocks also showed gains, as Samsung Biologics was up 2.55 percent, Doosan Enerbility 1.24 percent, Hyundai Motor 0.79 percent and KB Financial 3.69 percent.

Following Monday’s historic achievement, analysts believe the KOSPI is on track to reach the 5,000-point mark, as pledged by President Lee. They noted that the index’s ascent has been accelerating at a steeper pace.

“It could surpass the 5,000 level as early as the first half of next year, or, at the latest, around 2027,” Lee Seung-hoon, the chief analyst of IBK Securities, said.