"KOSPI Surpasses 6,500, Resembling Dot-com Bubble Era... 'Just a Matter of Time, May Rise Even More Strongly' [Weekend Money]"

KB Securities Sees Potential for At Least 30% Further Upside

On April 23, 2026, amid optimism over the resumption of peace negotiations between the United States and Iran, with the three major indices on the New York Stock Exchange closing higher, the KOSPI also surpassed the 6550 mark during the session, setting a new all-time high. An employee is monitoring the stock market and exchange rates in the dealing room at the Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun

With the KOSPI surpassing the all-time high of 6,500, investor interest in the potential for further gains has grown. The securities industry largely sees additional upside as possible, and there are forecasts that in a continued economic expansion phase, the index could rise faster and more strongly than expected.

On April 25, Euntaek Lee, a researcher at KB Securities, stated, "KOSPI has approached the 'all-time high resistance level' of 6,500 faster than anticipated, and many investors are placing significance on the breakout of this resistance level."

He cited examples of renowned international investors such as William O'Neil and Mark Minervini, explaining, "When an all-time high is broken, resistance from supply at key price levels weakens, trend-following strategies come into play, and this serves as a trigger for capital inflows, allowing the index to rise further."

The KOSPI temporarily fell by about 20% due to the war between the United States and Iran, but quickly recovered its previous high, entering a territory where further gains are possible.

According to KB Securities, there have been four instances in the past where the index declined by 20% during an economic expansion phase like the current one, and in all four cases, the index continued to rise after surpassing its previous high.

In these cases, it typically took between three and ten months to break the previous high, and within three to five months after the breakout, the index surged by at least 33% and up to 60%. The stronger the bull market (such as during the "Three Lows Boom" and the dot-com bubble), the faster and more intense the gains were.

Lee assessed that the current rally is similar to the "Three Lows Boom (Dot-com Bubble)" period. He added, "Concerns about inflation, the U.S. Federal Reserve's tightening, and the ongoing Iran crisis may delay a sustained breakout," but emphasized, "This is only a matter of time, and a trend upward is possible."

He identified the development of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry as the key driver of further KOSPI gains. Lee noted, "Despite the Iran situation, AI investment is not slowing down, and the emergence of agent AI is progressing faster than expected, further accelerating AI investment."

He continued, "The launch of follow-up chips by Nvidia and on-device AI are also factors accelerating AI investment," and added, "Meanwhile, the KOSPI's 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio stands at only 7.6 times, which remains extremely low."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.