Global investment bank (IB) Nomura Securities, which had presented a KOSPI target of 10,000–11,000 points, said on the 12th that "the semiconductor supercycle has only just begun."

The KOSPI index rises sharply in the 6% range at the open, triggering a buy sidecar, and the board in the main dealing room at Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, shows 8,307.55, up 543.60 points (7.00%) from the previous session. /Courtesy of News1

It also judged that while the artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor value chain is the core driver of gains, defense and automobiles will also help pull the market.

Nomura Securities held a "2026 Korea economy and stock market media briefing" on this day at the Seoul Finance Center in Jung-gu, Seoul

At the event, Jeong Chang-won, co-head of Asia Research at Nomura Securities, said, "If you look at this year's monthly memory sales, they are rising vertically," adding, "This is a pattern we have never seen before."

Jeong added, "Given this, we see the semiconductor supercycle as only just beginning."

Jeong said, "Memory demand driven by AI is expected to increase by 10,000 to 20,000 times over five years," adding, "We are heading into a new world we have never heard of."

Some have raised concerns that the semiconductor cycle could be ending. The view is that if AI corporations such as OpenAI post losses, hyperscalers will cut investment, and ultimately Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which supply memory semiconductors, will be affected, ending the semiconductor cycle.

Addressing these concerns, Jeong said, "Worries that AI corporations would run short of investment funds disappeared in the market by the end of March," adding, "Investment is now being made on faith in the fundamentals that memory demand will continue."

In addition to semiconductors, power demand was cited as a factor driving the KOSPI index higher.

Park Se-young, head (Deputy Minister) of Hankook Research, said, "The AI value chain is the core, but defense and automobiles will pull the market together," naming Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Hyundai Rotem, Kia, and Samsung SDI as top picks.

Meanwhile, Park projected about a 60% chance that Korea will be placed on the watch list in this month's Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) developed index announcement.

Earlier, on the 20th of last month, Nomura Securities raised its KOSPI target to 10,000–11,000 points. It also presented target prices of 5.9 million won for Samsung Electronics and 50 million won for SK hynix, respectively.

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