Employees hold a celebratory ceremony in the dealing room at Hana Bank headquarters in Jung District, Seoul, on the 6th, when the KOSPI index crossed 7,000. Yonhap News

The KOSPI index topped the 7,000 mark intraday on the 6th for the first time on record. It came a little over two months after it first broke through the 6,000 mark on February 25.

The KOSPI opened at 7,093.01, up 156.02 points (2.52%) from the previous trading day.

At 9:03 a.m., the KOSPI set a new intraday record high at 7,311.54, up 374.66 points (5.40%) from the previous session.

Samsung Electronics jumped 8% within 10 minutes of the open, and SK hynix climbed more than 8%.

Foreign investors were net buyers of 339.9 billion won, and individuals were net buyers of 380.8 billion won, driving the index higher. Institutions were net sellers of 588.3 billion won.

Overnight gains on Wall Street, optimism about semiconductor earnings, and expectations that a U.S-Iran ceasefire will hold are seen as driving the advance.