Samsung Electronics rose to a new high Friday, leading gains in Korea’s large-cap IT stocks and pumping up the broader Kospi index.

The electronics giant closed at 1,675,000 won ($1,498) on Seoul’s main bourse, up 2.13 percent from the previous day. Accordingly, Samsung Electronics’ market value added 5 trillion won to reach 237.3 trillion won. The stock has gained nearly 40 percent so far this year, against the Kospi’s 0.7 percent advance.


The index inched up 0.04 percent to 2056.24 points Friday, as large-cap gains offset the impact of institutional profit-taking.

LG Display, Samsung’s local rival in display panels, and Naver, a local internet behemoth which recently floated shares for its messenger app service Line on the New York and Tokyo exchanges, also saw their stocks set new midday highs. LG Display rose 3.88 percent to 32,150 won while Naver closed 0.5 percent up at 805,000 won.

Chipmaker SK hynix advanced 3.66 percent to close at 354,000 won.

Global liquidity and a rosy earnings outlook are fueling the IT rally, analysts said, pointing to heavy foreign buying in the segment.

“Samsung Electronics is flying high on expectations that the earnings momentum will continue after four quarters of market-beating results,” said Han Dae-hoon, an analyst at SK Securities.

IT companies rank high among foreigners’ 10 most favored Korean stocks between July 1 and Thursday, data showed.

SK Hynix was the second-most preferred stock, with foreigners investing a net 444 billion won in the firm. Samsung Electronics ranked fifth at 260 billion won, Naver at seventh with 225 billion won. LG Display and Samsung SDI were also among the top 10 stocks.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)