On the 18th, the KOSPI index, which had plunged in early trading, turned higher by midmorning on gains in large-cap semiconductor stocks. Investor sentiment appeared to recover on expectations that damage from the Samsung Electronics strike could be reduced. The index, which had slipped to the 7,100 level right after the open, rebounded to 7,600 points in just two hours.
President Lee Jae-myung issued a hard-line message to the Samsung Electronics union that has announced a strike, and the court also partially put the brakes on the union's strike method.
As of 11:30 a.m., the KOSPI index was moving near the 7,600 level, up around 1.5% from the previous trading day. In the Korea Exchange, foreigners were net sellers of more than 2 trillion won, but institutions and individuals were net buyers, leading the index rebound.
Shares of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which had been falling, reversed higher, changing the market mood. Representative beneficiaries of growth in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry such as Samsung Electro-Mechanics and Hyosung Heavy Industries also turned upward.
Kang Jin-hyeok, a researcher at Shinhan Investment & Securities, said, "Although heavy selling across large caps in early trading led to a steep drop in the index, investor sentiment recovered and the index reversed higher as the Minister, the prime minister, and even the president issued hard-line messages regarding the Samsung Electronics strike."
On this day, President Lee Jae-myung wrote on his social media, X, "In Korea, which has adopted a liberal democratic basic order and a capitalist market economic order, labor should be respected as much as corporations, and corporate management rights should be respected as much as labor rights." With the Samsung Electronics union having announced it will start a strike on the 21st, the president directly expressed concern about a large-scale walkout.
The previous day, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok also said in a national address, "We will consider all response measures, including an emergency adjustment, to protect the national economy."
The court partially granted Samsung Electronics' request for an injunction to ban "illegal industrial action." The court found that even during a strike, there is an obligation to maintain the same level of staffing, operating hours, and operating scale as under normal conditions.
After the president's message and the court's decision, Samsung Electronics was up more than 6%. SK hynix also turned higher, rising more than 3%. Thanks to this, the KOSPI index also turned upward. Compared with the early session, when the KOSPI 200 futures index plunged and a "sell-sidecar" was triggered, the mood has changed dramatically.
However, the KOSDAQ market remains weak. Compared with the sharp early drop, the decline has narrowed, but the KOSDAQ index is still down more than 1%. Semiconductor equipment stocks, however, are showing strength.
Jusung Engineering hit the upper price limit on news that it held a shipment ceremony to supply the world's first atomic layer growth (ALG) manufacturing equipment to global semiconductor corporations, and HPSP and SeoJin System are also seeing sharp gains.