On the 15th, the KOSPI index opened up 3% at the 7,000 level. With concerns about U.S. inflation easing, shares of artificial intelligence (AI)-related semiconductor corporations strengthened, which appears to have spurred buying sentiment in the domestic market.
The KOSPI index started trading at 7,082.91, up 226.08 points (3.30%) from the previous session. Within six minutes of the open, the KOSPI rose more than 6%, triggering a temporary suspension of program buy orders (buy sidecar). While individuals were net sellers, foreigners and institutions turned net buyers together, driving the index higher.
The KOSDAQ index opened at 805.71, up 21.73 points (2.77%) from the previous trading day. Despite net selling by foreigners and institutions, individual net buying poured in, and the KOSDAQ expanded its gains to trade in the 810 range, up in the 3% range. Seventeen minutes after the open
Most of the top market-cap stocks on the Korea Exchange are rising. Samsung Electronics(005930) and SK hynix(000660) are up around 6% and 9%, respectively, from the previous trading day. Large caps such as SK Square(402340), Samsung Electro-Mechanics(009150), and Hyundai Motor(005380) are uniformly strong.
It appears that a tailwind is also blowing in the domestic market as concerns about U.S. inflation eased the previous day and AI-related semiconductor sectors showed gains.
On the previous day at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones industrial average closed at 52,508.27, up 9.63 points (0.02%) from the previous session. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 rose 28.25 points (0.38%) to 7,543.59, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 233.83 points (0.90%) to 26,107.01.
The U.S. Labor Department released June consumer price index (CPI) growth at 3.5% year over year, below market expectations (3.8%) and the previous month's 4.2%. That sparked expectations for a Federal Reserve (Fed) rate cut and is seen as having boosted risk appetite.
On its third trading day on the Nasdaq, SK hynix American depositary receipt (ADR) jumped 27.29% from the previous session to a record $193.92. Barclays analyst Simon Coles said in a report that a memory semiconductor supply shortage will persist and set a price target of $330.
Global semiconductor names were strong, led by Nvidia (4.06%), Micron (4.92%), and SanDisk (5.01%).