South Korea’s stock market ended its final trading session of the year on Wednesday, hitting another fresh high on market expectations for the chip industry.

After a roller-coaster ride this year, the Kospi closed at 2,873.47, up 52.96 points or 1.88 percent from the previous session’s close.

It began trading slightly lower at 2,820.36, but the index began moving in afternoon trading.

Both foreign and institutional investors became buyers, scooping up a net 249 billion won ($229.38 million) and 196.7 billion won, while retail investors turned to net sellers, dumping 511.8 billion won worth of stocks.

“Fueled by expectations toward improving the semiconductor industry and foreign and institutional investors turning to net buyers, the Kospi was able to jump further,” said Lee Kyung-min, a market analyst at Daishin Securities.

“Despite the burden of market valuation, the index closed strong on the last day of trading this year, up around 100 percent from its yearly rock bottom in March.”

According to the Korea Exchange, the Kospi posted the second-highest profit rate among its Group of 20 peers.

The Kospi’s average daily transaction volume stood at 11.9 trillion won, surging 115.2 percent on-year.

The index jumped 97 percent from its yearly low in March, the highest gain for any country except Argentina, which posted an increase of 132 percent. 

Most large-cap stocks traded higher.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics gained 3.45 percent to close at 81,000 won, ending trading above the 80,000 won level for the first time. It got off to a weak start, but once hit a 52-week high of 81,300 won per share as well.

The country’s No. 2 chipmaker, SK hynix, and leading chemical firm LG Chem advanced 2.16 percent and 1.35 percent, while internet giant Naver and battery maker Samsung SDI appreciated 3.36 percent and 4.49 percent, respectively.

The tech-heavy secondary bourse Kosdaq also rallied, reaching 968.42, up 11.01 points or 1.15 percent from the previous session at the closing bell.

Small investors were major contributors as they continued net purchasing shares worth 123.3 billion won. Foreigners sold a net 62.8 billion won after buying the local shares for a fourth consecutive session. Institutional investors extended their selling spree, dumping a net 35.9 billion won worth of stocks.

The local currency also remained strong against the greenback. The US dollar traded at 1,086.3 won as the Korean currency strengthened 0.53 percent against the dollar. The value of the won against the dollar soared 6.06 percent from earlier this year and 15.5 percent compared with March, when the exchange rate was 1,285.7 won per dollar.

Meanwhile, the Korean capital market will be closed Thursday and reopen Monday. The first trading session of next year will start an hour later than usual due to the opening ceremony for 2021.

By Jie Ye-eun (yeeun@heraldcorp.com)