On the 19th, the KOSPI index, which started with a sharp drop, rebounded intraday and closed higher. Although U.S. stocks and semiconductor indexes fell over the weekend, U.S. index futures rose at midday, drawing investment funds into the market.
The KOSPI index finished at 5,768.01, up 99.96 points (1.76%) from the previous trading day. It rose for a second straight session. The KOSDAQ index also closed at 808.89, up 14.11 points (1.78%). Considering that Asian markets showed a wait-and-see mood, with Japan’s market edging lower, the rebound in Korea’s market was relatively large.
A display board in the dealing room at Hana Bank in Jung District, Seoul, shows closing figures for the KOSPI and other markets on the 19th./Courtesy of News1
Korea’s market opened with a steep decline. The KOSPI index started trading down more than 3% at 5,488 points, and the KOSDAQ index also opened down more than 2.7% at 773 points.
The drop was driven by a decline in U.S. stocks led by tech shares over the weekend. Concerns resurfaced that excessive liability levels at artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure corporations could raise credit risks, damping appetite for risk assets.
What especially triggered the tech-stock correction was the yield on corporate bonds of U.S. AI cloud firm CoreWeave topping 15%. As worries grew about its ability to repay liabilities totaling about $50 billion (about 71 trillion won), its bond prices plunged, and on the 16th its share price sank 12%.
As funding concerns for AI data center corporations mounted, worries spread that semiconductor demand would slow, and Micron’s share price also fell. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index in the United States declined for eight straight trading days. That is the longest losing streak since the 2008 global financial crisis.
The fallout hit Korea’s market, but the shock did not last long. With assessments that Korean stocks are “oversold,” investment funds flowed in and the index managed to rebound. On a combined basis for the Korea Exchange (KRX) and NEXTRADE (NXT), foreigners, institutions, and other corporations were all net buyers on the main bourse. Only individuals were net sellers by nearly 2 trillion won.
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which had plunged, ended higher. As the wait-and-see stance toward chip stocks persisted, investment funds rotated into batteries, autos, and biotech. LG Energy Solution rose more than 7%, and Samsung SDI(006400) gained nearly 12%.
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