KOSPI Rebounds 3.29% to 5,735.66 as Samsung, SK hynix Jump Over 5% on AI Chip Rally

South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI rebounded 3.29% on Wednesday to close at 5,735.66, recovering most of the previous session’s steep loss as chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix each jumped more than 5% and foreign investors returned as heavy buyers, Businesskorea reported.

The index gained 182.92 points after opening 2.05% higher at 5,666.34, and climbed as high as 5,816.43 during the session, according to Aju Press. The tech-heavy KOSDAQ rose 1.38% to 792.76 after briefly topping 800 in early trade. The rally came a day after the KOSPI slumped 3.73% to 5,552.74 amid doubts over AI spending and rising global bond yields.

Chipmakers lead the rally

Samsung Electronics closed 5.67% higher at 223,500 won, while SK hynix advanced 5.81% to 1,294,000 won, the Seoul Economic Daily said, noting the two stocks had been up roughly 7% and 8% respectively at their intraday peaks. SK Square added 5.13% and SK Inc. surged 12.62%, Businesskorea reported. LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motor edged lower.

The buying was strong enough to trigger a buy-side “sidecar” around 10:50 a.m., suspending program buy orders for five minutes after KOSPI 200 futures jumped more than 5%.

Sentiment was lifted overnight by US AI server maker Super Micro Computer, which guided preliminary quarterly revenue of US$18.5 billion to US$19.5 billion, well above the US$15.2 billion market consensus cited by the Seoul Economic Daily. Strong results from SpaceX, falling oil prices and steadier US Treasury yields also helped. Domestic trade data added fuel: Korea’s exports in the first 20 days of October more than doubled, rising 105.4% from a year earlier to US$61.6 billion, as semiconductor shipments soared 222.5% to US$27.52 billion.

Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, told the Seoul Economic Daily that while macroeconomic pressures persist, improving sentiment toward AI investment was pushing the market higher. Seo Sang-young of Mirae Asset Securities pointed to bargain hunting and firmer US chip sentiment, according to Invezz.

Foreign money returns as the won firms

Foreign investors were net buyers of 664.6 billion won worth of KOSPI shares, while retail investors sold a net 1.13 trillion won and institutions offloaded 72.2 billion won, Businesskorea reported. On the KOSDAQ, foreigners were net sellers of 172 billion won.

The Korean won strengthened for a fourth consecutive session, closing at 1,325.2 per US dollar, down 2.9 won from Tuesday and its strongest finish since October 2024, Aju Press said. The move was attributed to exporters selling dollars and the return of foreign equity inflows.

What’s next

Attention now turns to the Bank of Korea’s policy decision on Thursday. The central bank is widely expected to hold its base rate at 3.00% after back-to-back quarter-point hikes in July and August. All seven economists polled by Aju Press forecast a hold, and five of the six who gave a timeline expect another quarter-point increase in November. Investors will also watch whether the AI-driven chip rally can hold after the market’s sharp swings this week.

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