An electronic signboard at Hana Bank in Seoul shows the benchmark KOSPI rising 3.46 points, or 0.14 percent, from the previous session to close at 2,492.1 points, Tuesday. Yonhap
By Yi Whan-woo
Korean stocks are moving in an upward trajectory, after extending a losing streak from 2024 and making a shaky start to the New Year.
This trend, according to analysts on Tuesday, is driven partly by beneficiaries of the artificial intelligence (AI) taking center stage at CES 2025, the world’s largest tech trade show running from Tuesday to Friday in Las Vegas.
Analysts also attributed the bull market to the so-called “January effect,” referring to a seasonal increase in the prices of company shares during the first month of the year.
The benchmark KOSPI extended a three-day winning streak, Tuesday, rising 3.46 points, or 0.14 percent, from the previous session to close at 2,492.10 points.
The overall market advance has been led by chipmakers, mainly Samsung Electronics and its rival SK hynix. Both companies are participating at the CES.
Samsung Electronics had been rising for three consecutive days, before slipping by 0.89 percent to 55,400 won ($38.12), Tuesday.
SK hynix has been gaining for two straight days, before dropping by 2.4 percent to 195,000 won, also on Tuesday.
The tech-heavy junior Kosdaq market extended gains for four days straight after it closed 0.33 points, or 0.05 percent, higher at 718.29 points.
“The upward trend of the Korean stock market is attributable to growth prospects of the companies participating in CES,” NH Investment & Securities analyst Kim Young-hwan said. “The investors reckon that the Las Vegas event is where these companies can show what they are capable of in the era of AI.”
Kim said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote speech at the CES added investor interest toward AI-related stocks.
The CEO outlined Nvidia’s AI ambitions for consumer and enterprise users for the year ahead as the world’s leading AI chip giant.
Huang also introduced multiple new software technologies designed to help train humanoid robots and power a variety of AI applications.
Asked whether the Korean shares can continue to move up after the CES, the NH Investment & Securities analyst deemed that the January effect “may help sustain such momentum.”
Kang Dae-seok, a Yuanta Securities analyst, echoed that view.
“It appears that the KOSPI, at least for January, is far from being one of the world’s worst performers,” the analyst said.
The KOSPI finished 2024 by losing 9.7 percent from the previous year. The year-on-year loss was especially severe in the second half when it retreated 14 percent. The market correspondingly was ranked 20th among 21 major economies’ stock exchanges.
Some market observers noted that whether Seoul shares can keep up their growth momentum this year will depend on foreign investors, who dominantly went on a selling spree in 2024.
