S&P 500 and Nasdaq Hit Record Highs... KOSPI Eyes '8,000' Mark [Good Morning Market]

Dow Recovers 50,000 Mark for First Time in Three Months
AI Stocks Rally Following U.S.-China Summit
Foreign Net Selling Driven by Simple Profit-Taking

On the first day of the U.S.-China summit, the U.S. stock market closed higher, led by gains in technology stocks. After finishing above the 7,900 mark the previous day, the domestic stock market is expected to challenge the "8,000-point" threshold on May 16.

On May 14 (local time) in New York, the S&P 500 index closed at 7,501.24, up 56.99 points (0.77%) from the previous session, and the Nasdaq Composite set a new record, rising 232.88 points (0.88%) to 26,635.22. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day at 50,063.46, an increase of 370.26 points (0.75%) from the previous close. It marked the first time in three months that the Dow has recovered the 50,000 level since February 11.

As the KOSPI index approaches 8,000 and enters a pause, an employee is monitoring the stock market and exchange rates at the Hana Bank headquarters dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 14th. On that day, the KOSPI opened at 7,873.91, up 29.90 points (0.38%) from the previous trading day, the KOSDAQ rose 0.09 points (0.86%) to 1,187.02, and the won/dollar exchange rate started at 1,489.8 won, down 0.8 won from the previous day. Photo by Cho Yongjun, 2026.5.14

The previous day, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a summit in Beijing. President Xi, in discussions with major U.S. business leaders including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and Apple CEO Tim Cook—who accompanied President Trump on his visit to China—stated that "China's doors will open wider to business activities" and that "U.S. companies will have greater opportunities in China," raising expectations for an expansion of U.S.-China economic cooperation.

Reflecting these expectations for the Chinese market, Nvidia led gains among artificial intelligence (AI) related stocks. After reports that, following the U.S.-China summit, the U.S. government had authorized the sale of Nvidia's AI chip H200 to about 10 Chinese companies, Nvidia rose 4.43%. Broadcom (+5.52%), AMD (+0.94%), Texas Instruments (+0.60%), Lam Research (+1.26%), and Applied Materials (+0.91%) also posted gains. In contrast, Micron (-3.4%) and SanDisk (-4.5%) fell, reportedly due to profit-taking pressures.

The domestic stock market is also expected to attempt to break through the 8,000-point mark on the back of these positive expectations. Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, "Today, the KOSPI is expected to challenge the 8,000-point level, driven by preemptive optimism over the U.S.-China summit, and despite the weakness in U.S. semiconductor stocks such as Micron, the strong performance of Nasdaq led by other AI stocks is providing support."

The recent increase in net selling of KOSPI stocks by foreign investors to the 20 trillion won range this month is interpreted as being primarily driven by "profit-taking." Han explained, "While the net selling in February and March was triggered by noise surrounding a peak-out in the memory sector and the spread of war risks, the current environment is comparatively favorable, with the memory upcycle narrative gaining strength and the U.S.-Iran peace negotiations underway, both in terms of fundamentals and geopolitics. This has created an environment in which foreign investors can realize profits with less burden than before."

Han further noted, "The momentum for a market rally remains intact, with average monthly deposits increasing by about 9.3 trillion won, the forward price-to-earnings ratio (PER) in the low 8 times, and the annual operating profit forecast for KOSPI rising to approximately 890 trillion won. Therefore, the scenario in which intensified net selling by foreigners leads to a market downturn, accelerates net selling, and results in large-scale capital outflows from the market, should be considered unlikely."

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