On the 26th, both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ ended up more than 2%, rebounding. As hopes for U.S. rate cuts revived and a Google-led AI rally continued on Wall Street, the positive momentum spread to the domestic market. In addition, when the won-dollar exchange rate fell below 1,500 won intraday, foreign buying returned, adding a tailwind.
The KOSPI ended at 3,960.87, up 103.09 points (2.67%) from the previous session. Opening at 3,891.88, up 34.1 points (0.88%) from the day before, the KOSPI extended gains on net buying by institutional investors during the session.
In the main board, institutions and foreigners bought more than 1.26 trillion won and 410 billion won, respectively, leading the index higher. By contrast, individuals alone dumped 1.73 trillion won.
The sharp drop in the won-dollar exchange rate drew in foreign buying. The rate opened at 1,465 won, down 7.4 won from the previous day, slid to the 1,450-won level intraday on expectations of verbal intervention by the authorities, then rebounded after there were no concrete measures despite Deputy Prime Minister Koo Yun-cheol's comment about "stern action." It eventually closed at 1,465.60 won, down 6.8 won from the previous day.
All of the top 10 stocks by market cap on the main board finished higher. LG Energy Solution, Samsung Biologics, Hyundai Motor, Doosan Enerbility, and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries all ended the session at higher prices than the day before.
On the day, the diverging moves of semiconductor bellwethers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix stood out.
As expectations grew that Google's in-house artificial intelligence (AI) chip-powered "Gemini 3.0" will reshape the AI industry ecosystem and parent Alphabet's shares rose, Samsung Electronics, part of the related memory supply chain, jumped 3.52%.
At the same time, on views that reliance on Nvidia's GPU supply chain will gradually shrink, SK hynix, a key supplier, turned weak intraday but ultimately closed up 0.96%.
The KOSDAQ ended the session at 877.32, up 21.29 points (2.49%) from the previous session. Opening at 863.28, up 7.25 points (0.85%) from the previous session, the KOSDAQ extended gains on net buying by foreign investors during the session.
On the KOSDAQ, foreign and institutional investors were net buyers of about 195 billion won and 95 billion won, respectively, lifting the index. By contrast, individual investors alone showed net selling of about 267 billion won.
On the KOSDAQ, 9 of the top 10 by market cap rose. Except for Alteogen, which closed unchanged from the previous day, EcoPro BM, ABL Bio, and LigaChem Biosciences all finished higher.
Lee Kyung-min, a researcher at Daishin Securities Co., said, "As key U.S. economic indicators released on the 25th, including the September producer price index (PPI) and retail sales, collectively pointed to a slowdown, the probability of a December rate cut climbed into the 80% range, improving risk appetite."