The KOSPI broke above the 4,500 level for the first time on Monday.

As of 1:57 p.m., the KOSPI was up 44.68 points, or 1.00%, from the previous session at 4,502.20. After first topping 4,300 on Jan. 2, it cleared 4,500 just a day after breaking above 4,400.

The index opened down 11.44 points, or 0.26%, at 4,446.08. Losses widened and it briefly slipped below 4,400. It then turned higher on intraday bargain buying and is extending gains.

In the main board market, individuals and institutions are net buyers of 823.6 billion won and 125.1 billion won, respectively. Foreigners are selling 1.03 trillion won.

Institutions were net sellers early in the session but turned to net buying during trading. SK Hynix has added upward pressure on the index as the stock turned higher during the session.

Attention is focusing on SK Hynix as it unveils its next-generation high-bandwidth memory product, the HBM4 16-high 48GB, for the first time at CES 2026, the world's largest consumer electronics and information technology trade show.

Buying interest is also building after a report said SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung will meet Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang later on Monday.

Among the top stocks by market value, SK Hynix rose 3.30% after turning higher during the session and at one point climbed to the 720,000 won level to set a record high.

LG Energy Solution rose 1.35%, Samsung Biologics gained 0.58% and Hyundai Motor added 0.66%. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries climbed 6.24% and Celltrion rose 1.19%.

Samsung Electronics was down 0.25%, while KB Financial Group fell 0.08% and Kia lost 0.41%.

The Kosdaq was down 6.37 points, or 0.67%, at 951.13.