(2nd LD) KOSPI briefly hits another historic landmark of 8,000 on AI rally

(ATTN: UPDATES with KOSPI's latest figures in 3rd, last 5 paras) SEOUL, May 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's stock market entered a new era Friday, briefly touching the historic landmark of 8,000 points, although its record-breaking rally suffered a setback in the face of a foreign selling binge. After opening a tad lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) turned higher to breach the unprecedented 8,000 points, rising as high as 8,046.78. But the index turned lower again, crashing 488.23 points, or 6.12 percent, to close at 7,493.18. Foreign sell-offs worth over 5 trillion won (US$3.35 billion) centered on tech and auto shares, which have been on a sharp rise. Workers at Hana Bank in central Seoul celebrate the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index breaching the landmark 8,000 points on May 15, 2026. (Yonhap) It took just a little over a week for the index to hit the new milestone after topping the 7,000-point mark on May 6. The index had delivered a record-breaking run for five straight sessions until Monday on the extended rally of semiconductor shares buoyed by an optimistic outlook for continued growth of the artificial intelligence (AI) sector. The local stock market took a breather Tuesday amid little progress in peace talks between the United States and Iran, but Seoul shares rallied again to end at a fresh peak of 7,981.41 on Thursday. The KOSPI broke above the 3,000 mark on June 20, 2025, and surpassed 4,000 points on Oct. 27, 2025. On Jan. 22, it hit 5,000 points during intraday trading and touched 6,000 points on Feb. 25. A dealing room at Hana Bank in Seoul on May 15, 2026 (Yonhap) Seoul shares gained ground tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, boosted by the strong performance of AI-related shares and a positive evaluation of the ongoing U.S.-China summit. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite closed 0.88 percent higher, and the S&P 500 added 0.77 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.75 percent. Investor sentiment was uplifted by news that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route, must remain open during their summit in Beijing on Thursday. On expectations for closer cooperation between Washington and Beijing, Nvidia jumped 4.39 percent, Cisco Systems surged 13.41 percent, Broadcom climbed 5.52 percent and TSMC added 4.48 percent. But late in the morning, the KOSPI turned lower as concerns over the Middle East crisis loomed again after Trump told foreign news outlets that he will not be much more patient with Iran, urging Tehran to reach a peace deal with Washington. Most large-cap tech shares here lost ground on profit-taking sentiment brewed after the KOSPI hit the 8,000-milestone. Market top-cap Samsung Electronics nosedived 8.61 percent to 270,500 won, with its labor union threatening to proceed with a major strike planned for next week, despite management's proposal to resume talks without preconditions. Its chipmaking rival SK hynix slid 7.66 percent to 1.82 million won. AI investment firm SK Square plunged 6.23 percent to 1.1 million won, and trading firm Samsung C&T plummeted 10.29 percent to 396,500 won. Power plant manufacturer Doosan Enerbility contracted 5.38 percent to 110,800 won, and defense giant Hanwha Aerospace dipped 6.89 percent to 1.2 million won. nyway@yna.co.kr(END)