Kospi Jumps 5% on Foreign Buying, Reclaims 7,000 as Robot Stocks Surge

The Kospi rose more than 5% on foreign buying, reclaiming the 7,000 level.

As of 11:49 a.m. on July 22, the benchmark index was up 343.55 points, or 5.09%, at 7,091.50.

The Kospi moved back above 7,000 at the open. A buy-side sidecar, a temporary curb on program buy orders, was triggered at about 9:06 a.m.

Foreign investors were net buyers of 2.6519 trillion won worth of shares on the main bourse, helping drive the index higher. They were also buying 522.9 billion won of Kospi 200 futures.

Retail and institutional investors were net sellers, unloading 2.3353 trillion won and 287.7 billion won of stocks, respectively.

All of the market's largest stocks by market value were trading higher.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix were up 5.21% and 6.97%, respectively. SK Hynix also topped 2 million won during the session. The gains followed overnight bargain buying in semiconductor shares on Wall Street, where Micron Technology and SK Hynix American depositary receipts rose 12.04% and 13.74%, respectively.

SK Square rose 4.47%, Samsung Life Insurance gained 4.43%, and Samsung C&T advanced 7.57%.

Hyundai Motor added 6.64%.

The Kosdaq climbed 17.34 points, or 2.30%, to 770.68. In that market, retail investors were net buyers of 275 billion won worth of shares, while foreign and institutional investors sold 163.8 billion won and 109.8 billion won, respectively.

Most of the Kosdaq's largest stocks were also higher.

Rainbow Robotics surged 21.39%. Robot-themed stocks on the Kosdaq rallied after Samsung Electronics said it would create a Robotics Experience, or RX, Business Promotion Office under Roh Tae-moon, president and head of the DX Division.

EcoPro BM and EcoPro rose 4.25% and 5.32%, respectively.

In Seoul's foreign-exchange market, the won traded at 1,480 per dollar, down 2 won, or 0.13%, from the previous session.

Han Gyeong-u, Hankyung.com reporter, case@hankyung.com