Seoul took the full force of Wall Street's "when does AI spending pay off?" doubt on Friday. The KOSPI closed at 5,730.74 (−3.48%) after touching 5,599.42 intraday. Foreign investors sold a net 1.62 trillion won (about $1.2 billion) in a single session. SK Hynix, the world's leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory for AI chips, fell…
Seoul met "record earnings" with a question rather than applause on Thursday. Samsung Electronics confirmed third-quarter operating profit of 107.44 trillion won (about $80 billion) on revenue of 195.25 trillion won. It said sales of HBM4, its newest high-bandwidth memory for AI chips, more than tripled from the prior quarter and that next year's HBM…
Seoul answered SK Hynix's earnings in a big way on Wednesday. The KOSPI jumped 6.63% to 6,012.44, reclaiming 6,000 for the first time in ten sessions and triggering a buy-side circuit pause ("sidecar") for a second straight day. SK Hynix, the world's leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI chips, reported third-quarter operating profit…
On Tuesday, Seoul bought the "answer in numbers" that Anthropic's IPO filing gave the AI trade. The KOSPI closed at 5,638.34 (+3.09%), and foreign investors turned net buyers for the first time in four sessions, buying about ₩836 billion (roughly $630 million). The index touched about 5,737 intraday, triggering a "sidecar" (a five-minute pause on…
★ Seoul flipped from −4% to +0.3%. KOSPI 5,550.30 (+0.30%), intraday low 5,305.98 (−4.12%). SK hynix +4.4% to +4.7%, Samsung Electronics +0.47%, Samsung Biologics +7.71%. KOSDAQ 751.69 (−1.62%). ★ Flows diverged. Foreigners −₩994 billion to −₩1.09 trillion (by source), institutions +₩800 billion to +₩872 billion, retail slightly positive. USD/KRW 1,324.6 (+0.4), ending a five-day run…
★ Seoul reversed in one day. KOSPI 5,735.66 (+3.29%), KOSDAQ 792.76 (+1.38%). Foreigners net bought about KRW 660 billion, mostly Samsung (KRW 472bn) and SK hynix (KRW 200bn). The won strengthened to 1,325.2 per dollar, its strongest close in about two years. ★ The catalyst was exports. Oct 1–20 exports $61.6bn (+105.4%), chips $27.5bn (+222.5%),…
★ Seoul took the AI doubt first. KOSPI 5,552.74 (−3.73%), KOSDAQ 781.97 (−3.33%). Foreigners −₩530–538bn, institutions about −₩1tn, retail +₩898bn. SK Hynix −4.23% (−7.36% intraday), Samsung Electronics −2.98%. ★ Elice's debut: about −32%. Priced at ₩90,500 (top of range), raising about ₩201bn ($151m). An AI data-center flop landed on the same day as renewed CoreWeave…
★ Seoul reversed about five points in one day. KOSPI opened at 5,488.41 (−3.17%) and closed at its high, 5,768.01 (+1.76%). Foreigners +₩624.8bn (second straight day), institutions +₩878.9bn, retail −₩1.93tn. ★ But chips were not the engine. Samsung SDI +11.70%, Samsung Biologics +8.7–9.9%, LG Energy Solution +6.7–7.2%, Hyundai Motor +4.3–4.5%, versus Samsung Electronics +1.16% and…
★ A 0.3% core print put an October hike back on the table. Headline 3.7% (vs 3.6%), core +0.3% m/m (vs 0.2%) and 2.6% y/y. October hike odds went from ~22% to ~50% (44–54%). ★ The 2-year moved more than the 10-year. 2-year up about 12bp to ~4.92% 🟡, 10-year near 5.29% (+7–9bp). The 2s10s…
★ Seoul caught its breath first. KOSPI 5,668.05 (+2.05%), KOSDAQ 794.78 (+4.46%). Foreigners bought a net ₩343 billion, ending an eight-day, roughly ₩18 trillion selling streak. But the KOSPI gave back half of an intraday gain of over 4%. ★ The won is at a two-year high. USD/KRW 1,331.4 (−13.2), the lowest since October 2024….