South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index staged the largest single-day rally in its history Friday, surging 17.91% to close at 6,595.45, as chipmaking giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rebounded sharply from a punishing weeklong selloff following blowout earnings results from Microsoft, Amazon and Meta Platforms.

The index closed up 1,001.89 points, marking a record in both point and percentage terms, according to the Korea Herald. The rally briefly pushed the KOSPI as high as 6,547.56 during the session, a 17.06% intraday gain, before the index extended even further into the close. The previous record for a single-day percentage gain had stood at 11.95%, set on October 30, 2008, during the depths of the global financial crisis, according to the Seoul Economic Daily.

Semiconductor shares drove the bulk of Friday's advance. Samsung Electronics surged as much as 26.81% during the session, while SK Hynix climbed 29.95%, according to figures reported by TradingKey, effectively hitting the exchange's daily limit for individual stock price movements. The tech-heavy KOSDAQ index also posted a historic gain, closing up 11.63% at 719.76, marking its second-largest daily percentage gain on record, according to the Korea Herald.

The rally traced its origins directly to a powerful overnight session on Wall Street. Microsoft's shares soared 15.5% Thursday for the company's best single-day performance in nearly 18 years, according to the Associated Press, after the technology giant reported that........

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