South Korean Stock Market Reaches Historic High: A New Era in Market Capitalization

South Korea's total stock market capitalization made history on Monday, exceeding 6,000 trillion won (approximately USD 4.1 trillion) for the first time. The Korea Herald reported that during the early trading hours, the combined capitalization of the country's domestic exchanges hit 6,031.97 trillion won. The Korea Exchange data reveals that the Kospi index contributed 5,354.36 trillion won of this sum, while the secondary Kosdaq and Konex accounted for 673.97 trillion won and 3.64 trillion won, respectively.

This milestone marks a significant rally for Kospi, which soared to an intraday high of 6,603.01, crossing the 6,600 threshold for the first time. Additionally, the Kosdaq index climbed over 1 percent after breaking the 1,200 level for the first time in approximately 25 years last Friday.

Major technology firms propelled the rally, with Samsung Electronics and SK hynix leading gains. By 10:35 a.m., Samsung Electronics had risen 1.25 percent to 222,250 won, while SK hynix skyrocketed 5.32 percent, setting a new record high of 1,287,000 won. Asian markets displayed mixed but robust performances, especially in North Asia, although geopolitical concerns in the Middle East and volatile energy supplies impacted markets like Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Singapore's Straits Times.

(With inputs from agencies.)