Kospi breaks above 9,000 milestone

The South Korean benchmark Kospi breached the 9,000-point threshold in intraday trading for the first time on Thursday, powered by a rally in semiconductor heavyweights as investors shrugged off the US Federal Reserve's hawkish policy stance.

The index opened 0.23 percent higher at 8,884.92 and extended its gains to break above the 9,000-point mark for the first time during trading.

It climbed as high as 9,040.52 during the session as of press time.

As of 2:30 p.m., it stood at 9,011.61, gaining ...