Seoul Shares Hit Record Intraday High as AI-Driven Tech Rally Powers KOSPI

South Korea's KOSPI index surged to a record intraday high on Tuesday, outperforming a broadly mixed Asian session as investors piled into AI-linked semiconductor names. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the world's two largest memory chip makers, led the advance as demand for high-bandwidth memory used in AI accelerators continues to grow.

The record came despite cautious trading elsewhere in Asia, with Japanese and Chinese equities constrained by lingering uncertainty over the US-Iran conflict and its impact on energy and supply-chain costs. KOSPI's divergence underscores South Korea's increasingly prominent role as a beneficiary of the global AI infrastructure buildout.

Analysts note that the rally reflects confidence that AI-related capital expenditure by the likes of Amazon, Microsoft, and Google will sustain elevated chip demand well into 2027. The KOSPI's record is a signal that regional investors are rotating into technology names seen as direct plays on AI hardware, even as macro headwinds persist.