Staff at the trading room of Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul's Jung-gu District on May 6 hold a ceremony celebrating the main stock market index KOSPI breaking 7,000 for the first time. (Yonhap News)

By Lee Jihae

The main stock market KOSPI has surpassed 7,000 for the first time.

Given the recent earnings momentum, domestic securities companies and those abroad say the 8,000 mark is within reach.

The Korea Exchange on May 6 said KOSPI opened that day at 7,093.01, up 2.25% from its previous close.

The index has kept setting all-time records, starting with 4,000 on Oct. 27 last year, 5,000 on Jan. 22 this year, 6,000 on Feb. 25 and finally 7,000 a little over two months later.

Individual and foreign investors led the surge with net buying of KRW 396.1 billion by the former and KRW 474 billion by the latter. Institutional investors net sold KRW 699.3 billion.

As of 9:03 a.m. that day, Samsung Electronics was trading at KRW 254,000, up 9.25%, and SK Hynix KRW 1,595,000, up 10.23%.

The secondary market KOSDAQ was at 1,199.03, down 14.71 points (1.21%) from the previous close. The KRW-USD exchange rate opened at 1,465.8, up KRW 3.

jihlee08@korea.kr