SEOUL - Shares of South Korean chipmaker Samsung Electronics rose as much as 2 percent on Thursday to an all-time high on investor optimism surrounding the semiconductor industry.

Shares of the world's leading memory chip maker were up 0.95 percent at 95,900 won ($67.52) per share as of 0022 GMT, after hitting a record 96,900 won earlier in the session, surpassing the previous record of 96,800 won on Jan 11, 2021.

Samsung Electronics shares have risen 80 percent so far this year.