Seoul stocks open sharply higher on chip gains amid revived AI hopes

South Korean stocks surged to a record high on Tuesday, buoyed by a strong performance in the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and renewed optimism surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) as well as a decline in global oil prices and bond yields. The KOSPI, the country's benchmark index, jumped 2.02 percent to close at 7,149.3 points.

This was in response to the U.S. markets' own rally, with the Nasdaq Composite climbing 2.3 percent and the S&P 500 gaining 1.5 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced a modest increase of 0.7 percent. The surge in investor sentiment was attributed to a broad rally in AI-related stocks, coupled with the drop in oil prices and the easing of U.S. Treasury yields.

In Seoul's market, the major players notably rallied. Samsung Electronics, the country's top market cap, gained 2.55 percent, while chip giant SK hynix experienced a significant rise of 3.21 percent. SK Square, the parent firm of SK hynix, also advanced by 3.02 percent, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, an electronics component subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, jumped 6.58 percent.

The Korean won strengthened to 1,369.6 won per U.S. dollar, up from the previous trading session's close.