On the 14th, the KOSPI surpassed 7,980 for the first time ever, reaching the threshold of 8,000. Although foreigners extended their net selling for a sixth straight session, individual investors took the other side and pushed the index higher. As expectations for semiconductor earnings continue on the back of expanding AI development, brokerages projected that the KOSPI could climb to 10,000.

The KOSPI closed up 137.40 points (1.75%) at 7,981.41, setting an all-time high. It was just 18.59 points shy of 8,000. The index opened 29.90 points (0.38%) higher at 7,873.91 and extended gains. At one point intraday it reached 7,991.04, but repeatedly retreated without touching 8,000. The KOSDAQ closed at 1,191.09, up 14.16 points (1.20%) from the previous session.

Overnight, despite inflation concerns, U.S. stocks strengthened, led by companies that accompanied the U.S.-China summit, including Tesla, Nvidia, and Apple, which appears to have helped lift the KOSPI. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.14%, but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose 0.58% and 1.20%, respectively, to fresh record highs.

In the main board on the day, foreigners sold for a sixth consecutive session, but individuals and institutions moved to ‘buy’, sustaining the index's advance. Foreigners posted net sales of 2.1674 trillion won and unloaded a total of 26.2375 trillion won from the 7th through the day. In contrast, individuals bought a net 1.8377 trillion won and institutions 189.7 billion won.

Concentration in semiconductors persisted, but caution surrounding the U.S.-China summit limited gains. As a result, rotation into other sectors such as food and beverages, department stores, and insurance also emerged. Samsung Electronics rose 12,000 won (4.23%) from the previous session to 296,000 won, while SK hynix fell 6,000 won (0.30%) to 1,970,000 won.

Brokerages at home and abroad raised their KOSPI targets in succession, citing the semiconductor rally.

KB Securities raised its KOSPI target from 7,500 to 10,500, the highest among domestic brokerages. Lee Eun-taek, an analyst at KB Securities, said, “The current KOSPI market is faster and stronger than the historically most powerful ‘three lows (low dollar·low oil prices·low interest rates)’ boom,” adding, “At its center is an upward revision to earnings estimates stemming from AI investment.” During the 1986~1989 three-lows boom, the KOSPI rose eightfold over four years.

Hyundai Motor Securities recently raised its 2024 KOSPI target to 9,750 and projected that in a bull market it could reach 12,000. Yuanta Securities presented a base-case target of 10,000 and a bull-case target of 11,600. Global investment bank (IB) Morgan Stanley put this year's KOSPI target at 9,500 and said it could reach 10,000 under a bull-case scenario.