By Dharmesh Prajapati

SEOUL, June 22 (NewsForYou.Live) – The market value of South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix (000660.KS), opens new tab briefly ​topped that of peer Samsung ‌Electronics (005930.KS), opens new tab on Monday to make it the country’s most valuable firm.

Shares of SK Hynix, ​now the world’s most valuable ​memory chipmaker, traded up 5.7% to ⁠bring the company’s market capitalisation ​to 2,082.5 trillion won ($1.35 trillion) as of ​0347 GMT, compared with gains of 0.4% in Samsung Electronics to 2081.3 trillion won, excluding ​preferred shares..

Samsung Electronics had held the top spot since ​2000.

South Korean chipmakers have posted record profits, benefiting ‌from ⁠the rush to build AI data centres by U.S. tech giants that have boosted demand for memory chips, ​constrained supply ​and driven up ⁠prices.

SK Hynix shares have risen more than 340% this ​year alone, outperforming Samsung’s 200% ​jump.

In ⁠May, SK Hynix joined rivals Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology in topping $1 ⁠trillion ​in market value for ​the first time, driven by the AI rally.

Reporting ​by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Kevin Buckland