Seoul, May 26 (IANS) South Korea’s benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) wrapped up Tuesday’s trading session above 8,000 points, as foreign investors returned to net buyers of local stocks on expectations that the United States and Iran may be nearing a deal to end the war in the Middle East.

The KOSPI jumped more than 2.8 percent to open at 8,070.91 points, breaking above an intraday high of 8,046.78 points that was reached May 15, reports Yonhap news agency.

The index rose as high as 8,131.15 points at one point during trading before closing at 8,047.51 points, up 2.55 percent from the previous session’s close. This marks the first time the main bourse closed this high.

The bull market has been buoyed by demand for riskier assets among foreign investors as optimism over a peace deal between the U.S. and Iran grew.

Foreign investors returned as net buyers of local stocks for the first time in 13 trading sessions.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said that peace negotiations with Iran were proceeding “nicely,” while warning that if a peace deal is not reached, U.S. attacks would resume on a scale “bigger and stronger than ever before.”

Trump made the remarks as Washington and Tehran were working to sign a framework that reports said would include extending their ceasefire for 60 days, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and continuing negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.

Heavy bets on stocks related to artificial intelligence (AI) spending boom, including Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc., have taken the index to new highs, although some analysts have warned of a potential bubble from the new technology.

Supercharged by the AI boom, shares of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have greatly contributed to the strong rise of the local stock market.

Shares of SK hynix jumped 5.72 percent to close at 2.05 million won (US$1,329), and Samsung Electronics gained 2.22 percent to 299,000 won.

In particular, the market capitalization of SK hynix rose to 1,473 trillion won. SK hynix is set to catch up with Samsung Electronics and top the US$1 trillion milestone in terms of stock value.

Some analysts expected the KOSPI’s rally to continue for the time being, but investors may need to gauge that the bull market has been mainly led by heavyweight semiconductor stocks.

So far this month, about 43 percent of the daily average trading value of KOSPI has been focused on Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.

–IANS

na/