Anchor: The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index(KOSPI) has hit its highest point in history, breaking the three-thousand-500 mark for the first time ever. The index finished at three-thousand-549-point-21 on Thursday afternoon, driven by a semiconductor boom, interest rate optimism and an ambitious presidential push. 
Monica Chin reports. 

Report: Thursday marked a milestone for South Korea's stock market as its benchmark index closed above the three-thousand-500 mark for the first time in its history. 

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index(KOSPI) surged to an all-time high of three-thousand-549-point-21, up 93-point-38 points, or two-point-70 percent, from Wednesday’s close.

The main bourse had opened strong at three-thousand-535-point-48 and extended gains throughout the session.

Foreign investors drove the rally, purchasing a net three-point-13 trillion won, or approximately two-point-two billion U.S. dollars, worth of shares, amid expectations that sluggish economic indicators in the U.S. could accelerate the Federal Reserve's rate-cut cycle.

The Korean won strengthened against the greenback, quoted at one-thousand-400 as of 3:30 p.m., up three-point-two won from the previous session's close. 

The occasion follows major meetings between Samsung, SK Group and OpenAI, during which the two South Korean conglomerates agreed to supply memory chips for the U.S. tech giant's data centers as part of a major global infrastructure initiative.

The two rival firms boosted Thursday's rise significantly: Samsung Electronics surged three-point-49 percent to 89-thousand won, and SK hynix soared nine-point-86 percent to close at 395-thousand-500 won. Other major tech-related stocks, such as battery maker LG Energy Solution, automakers Hyundai Motor and Kia and pharmaceutical players Samsung Biologics and Celltrion, also increased.

President Lee Jae Myung, who had previously pledged to eliminate the so-called Korea discount and bring the market over the five-thousand-point threshold as a central tenet of his campaign for office, was also present at the meetings with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. 

During the gathering in Seoul, the president emphasized the new partnerships' potential to boost South Korea's exports and domestic job creation and expressed confidence that the market was likely to continue in its current direction.
Monica Chin, KBS World Radio News.