SEOUL — The South Korean stock market witnessed a historic rally on Thursday as pent-up investor sentiment from the Lunar New Year holiday exploded, sending both major indices to record levels. The benchmark KOSPI broke the 5,600-point barrier for the first time, while the tech-heavy KOSDAQ saw a massive influx of foreign capital, triggering emergency volatility controls.

KOSPI’s Record-Breaking Streak
As of 10:57 AM KST, the KOSPI stood at 5,647.05, up 140.04 points (2.54%) from the previous session. Earlier in the morning, the index reached an intra-day peak of 5,673.11, setting a fresh all-time high.

Institutional investors were the primary engine behind the rally, recording a net purchase of 431.3 billion won. In contrast, individual and foreign investors remained net sellers, offloading 51.4 billion won and 459.0 billion won, respectively.

Most of the top 10 market cap stocks saw gains. Notably, Samsung Electronics surged over 4%, hitting the 190,000 won mark for the first time in its history. This leap follows a strong showing by AI-related stocks in the U.S. markets during the Korean holiday break. Other gainers included SK Square (+3.05%), Kia (+2.38%), and Doosan Enerbility (+2.28%).

KOSDAQ Euphoria and Program Trading Halt
The KOSDAQ market displayed even more dramatic momentum, rising 4.12% to 1,151.66. Unlike the KOSPI, the secondary market saw aggressive buying from both foreign (374.7 billion won) and institutional (423.0 billion won) investors.

The rapid ascent prompted the Korea Exchange (KRX) to activate a "Buy Sidecar" at 10:41 AM, temporarily suspending program buying orders for five minutes. This marks the second time this year that a buy sidecar has been triggered, following a previous instance on January 26. Analysts attribute this fervor to growing expectations regarding the government’s recent KOSDAQ revitalization policies.

Sector Performance and Currency
The KOSDAQ rally was led by bio, robotics, and secondary battery stocks. All top 10 KOSDAQ-listed companies traded in the green, with SamchunDang Pharm (+15.33%), Caregen (+14.16%), and Ecopro (+12.30%) posting double-digit gains.

Meanwhile, in the foreign exchange market, the Korean won opened weaker despite the stock market's strength. The KRW/USD exchange rate started at 1,451.0 won, up 6.1 won from the previous session's close, reflecting ongoing global currency volatility.