Six foreign securities companies—JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Merrill, UBS, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Global Markets—combined for 630.5 billion won ($455 million) in South Korea during the second quarter, up 213.8% from a year earlier and 133.3% from the previous quarter. Their operating profit reached 828.9 billion won, an annual increase of 220.7%. The results came as the KOSPI, South Korea’s benchmark stock index, climbed sharply and broke above 9,000 for the first time. JPMorgan ranked first with 204.5 billion won ($147 million) in net profit, followed by Goldman Sachs with 137.1 billion won, Merrill with 98.2 billion won, UBS with 77.2 billion won, Morgan Stanley with 59.9 billion won and Citigroup Global Markets with 53.6 billion won. JPMorgan had 87 employees in South Korea at the end of June. Foreign investors traded 1,851.9 trillion won ($1.34 trillion) in South Korea’s securities markets during the quarter, a 312% year-on-year increase. By comparison, the net profit of 10 major South Korean brokerages rose 141% year over year and 37% from the previous quarter.