KOSPI Attempts Record Highs on Eased Pension Worries, Ceasefire Hopes, and Jensen Huang's Visit

New York Stock Indexes Hit Record Highs on U.S.-Iran Ceasefire Hopes

National Pension Service's Increased Domestic Equity Allocation Boosts Market Sentiment

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix Lead the Rally

Shares Related to Jensen Huan

With renewed hopes for a ceasefire between the United States and Iran, the KOSPI surged significantly. On the 29th, employees are working at the dealing room of Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

With revived expectations for a ceasefire between the United States and Iran, the KOSPI surged significantly. Multiple favorable developments also drove the market upward, including the National Pension Service’s expansion of its domestic stock allocation, the launch of Samsung Electronics’ new high-bandwidth memory (HBM) products, and the visit of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to South Korea.

KOSPI Attempts to Reach Record High Again on Hopes for U.S.-Iran Ceasefire

On May 29, the KOSPI opened at 8,384.31, up 2.43% from the previous session, climbed as high as 8,424.53, and was trading at 8,355.16 as of 10:15 a.m., up 2.08%. It is now trading above the previous all-time closing high of 8,228.70, set on May 27. The intraday high on the same day was 8,457.09. The KOSDAQ opened up 0.71% at 1,112.15, but then reversed its gains and is now down 3.22% at 1,068.84.

Renewed hopes for a ceasefire between the United States and Iran have influenced the stock market. Overnight, the New York stock market saw all three major indexes reach new record highs on expectations for an end to the war. The S&P 500 rose 0.58%, the NASDAQ Composite climbed 0.91%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 0.05%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index also increased by 1%.

Buying momentum was sparked by news that the United States and Iran had completed negotiations on a "Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)" to end the war and are now awaiting final approval from U.S. President Donald Trump. According to The Guardian, President Trump has shared a draft of the MOU with Israel and other parties. The draft reportedly includes extending a ceasefire for 60 days and restoring pre-war levels of vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days.

The National Pension Service’s decision to raise its target allocation for domestic stocks this year from 14.9% to 20.8% is another positive for the Korean stock market. The National Pension Service made this decision at its fund management committee meeting held the previous day. As concerns about selling by the National Pension Service—the largest institutional investor in the domestic stock market—have dissipated, the KOSPI has also felt less pressure.

The KOSPI is rising, led by semiconductor, automotive, and robotics-related stocks. As of 10:10 a.m., Samsung Electronics was trading at 309,500 won, up 3.34% from the previous session. On this day, Samsung Electronics announced the world’s first shipment of sample HBM4E 12-layer memory chips. The market evaluated that Samsung Electronics is accelerating both next-generation HBM development and customer validation faster than anticipated. Samsung Electronics’ recent investment in Anthropic, the developer of the generative AI Claude, along with speculation about potential foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) partnerships, also had a positive impact on its share price.

SK hynix was up 2.53% at 2,347,000 won. KB Securities raised its target price for SK hynix from 3,000,000 won to 3,800,000 won on this day. Kim Dongwon, Head of Research at KB Securities, stated, “Next year’s memory market will see even greater supply shortages than this year, leaving ample room for further increases in memory prices.”

Shares related to Nvidia surged on news that Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, will visit South Korea next week to meet with LG Group, Hyundai Motor Group, Naver, and others. Huang is expected to discuss expanded cooperation on physical AI with LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo during his visit. He is also anticipated to explore AI collaboration with major IT companies such as Naver. There is speculation that he may also meet with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung.

Following this news, LG Electronics jumped 21.29% to 273,000 won, while Naver climbed 14.39% to 234,500 won. Hyundai Motor (5.32%) and Hyundai Mobis (8.31%) also soared.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics surged by 9% to surpass 2,000,000 won for the first time, driven by expectations of improved earnings due to higher multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) prices, a key semiconductor component. Its market capitalization reached 149 trillion won, overtaking Hyundai Motor to become the fourth-largest company by market cap on the KOSPI.

As hopes for a ceasefire between the United States and Iran revive, the KOSPI surged significantly. On the 29th, employees are seen working in the dealing room at the Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Concerns Remain Over Extreme Concentration in KOSPI

Despite continued gains in the KOSPI, there are growing concerns about an extreme concentration in only a few stocks—mainly semiconductors—while most others are declining. According to Kiwoom Securities, as of the previous day, the KOSPI was up 24% in May, but only three out of 26 sectors outperformed the index: IT hardware (83%), semiconductors (52%), and automobiles (25%). In contrast, 16 sectors saw their stock prices fall, including construction (-15%), utilities (-14%), nonferrous metals (-13%), media (-13%), chemicals (-11%), and steel (-10%).

Of the 948 stocks listed on the KOSPI, only 14.5% have risen in price this month, while the remainder have either declined or remained flat. Since the start of this year, shares in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have more than doubled, and the combined market capitalization of these two companies now accounts for 50.5% of the entire KOSPI.

Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, commented, “With the growing influence of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix on the stock market, a liquidity black hole has emerged around these stocks, increasing market volatility. Fluctuations in their minute-by-minute prices and trading volumes have had a greater impact on the entire index.”

However, some analysts argue that such sector concentration is natural in a strong bull market. Lee Euntaek, a researcher at KB Securities, said, “Looking at past examples such as the dot-com bubble in 2000 or the U.S. ‘Nifty Fifty’ market, sector concentration has always occurred during bull runs. We could see even stronger concentration on leading stocks in the Korean market.” Lee also emphasized, “While some may dismiss this concentration as irrational exuberance, that is a misconception. The leading stocks at the time were not just driven by expectations of future profits; their earnings growth was already accelerating rapidly.”

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