KOSPI Soars 7%, Holds Above 7,700 as Institutional Buying Leads Rally

KOSDAQ Also Holds Above 1,110

On May 21, the KOSPI index remained above the 7,700-point mark during intraday trading, while the KOSDAQ also surpassed the 1,100-point threshold and was hovering around 1,110.

As of approximately 1:00 p.m. on this day at the Korea Exchange, the KOSPI index was trading at 7,759.75, up 550.8 points (7.64%) from the previous session. The KOSPI opened at 7,486.37 and has been maintaining an upward trend without any decline.

Institutional investors are leading the rally, with net purchases totaling 2,405.728 billion won. In contrast, foreign investors and individual investors are net sellers, offloading 966.138 billion won and 1,433.448 billion won, respectively.

By sector, all industries are on the rise except for food, beverage & tobacco (-0.03%). Electrical & electronics (9.14%), manufacturing (8.37%), transportation equipment & parts (7.83%), machinery & equipment (7.58%), distribution (7.19%), and insurance (7.05%) are among the notable gainers.

On the 15th, when the KOSPI index surpassed the 8,000 mark intraday for the first time in history, the electronic display board in the dealing room of Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul showed the domestic stock market index and Samsung Electronics' stock price. 2026.5.15 Photo by Kang Jinhyung

All of the top market cap stocks are also rising, including Hyundai Mobis (19.4%), Samsung C&T (12%), SK Square (12.4%), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (11.9%), Kia (11.5%), Samsung Life Insurance (11.3%), SK hynix (11.2%), and Samsung Electronics (7.7%).

At the same time, the KOSDAQ index was trading at 1,110.44, up 54.37 points (5.15%) from the previous session. Foreign and institutional investors are net buyers, purchasing 137.642 billion won and 154.472 billion won, respectively, while individual investors are net sellers of 280.575 billion won.

Among the top market cap stocks, all are up except for Caregen (-5.2%) and Alteogen (-0.4%). Simmtech (19.6%), Rainbow Robotics (15.8%), Seojin System (11.7%), ISC (11.3%), Ecopro BM (10.5%), Ecopro (9.8%), Wonik IPS (8.7%), and Leeno Industrial (6.2%) have all gained.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.