A tailwind from the United States revived semiconductor investment sentiment. The KOSPI rose 3% to 4% and settled in the 6,500 range.
On the 5th, the KOSPI closed at 6,598.26, up 239.31 points (3.76%) from the previous trading day. As it surged more than 4% intraday, a buy-sidecar that temporarily halts program trading for five minutes was triggered on the main board. It was the first time in three trading days since Friday last week and the 22nd time this year.
Foreign investors were net buyers of 1.4464 trillion won, lifting the index. Individuals and institutions were net sellers of 1.1851 trillion won and 280.2 billion won, respectively.
Semiconductors were strong. SK hynix rose 5% and Samsung Electronics gained 2%, closing around 1.6 million won and 240,000 won, respectively. As investment sentiment recovered across artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure Samsung Electro-Mechanics(009150), LG Innotek jumped 14%.
The surge in U.S. semiconductor stocks overnight had an impact. Palantir released results that beat market expectations and then raised its guidance, jumping 29%. On news that the three major memory makers have sold out their DRAM and high bandwidth memory (HBM) volumes through 2027, memory names were strong, including Micron (7.6%) and SanDisk (10.8%).
External conditions are also favorable. Negotiations between the United States and Iran are in the final stages. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, "I think we could reach an agreement today or tomorrow to open the strait and steer this conflict into a more normal phase."
International oil prices and U.S. Treasury yields plunged. September West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures fell to $75, and Brent crude fell to $78. The U.S. 2-year and 10-year Treasurys fell to around 4.19% and 4.6%, respectively, strengthening risk appetite.
Lee Kyung-min, a researcher at Daishin Securities, said, "The strength of U.S. memory stocks formed a virtuous cycle that led to a recovery in investment sentiment for domestic semiconductors," adding, "Unlike the previous day, the KOSPI, which has a high semiconductor weighting, outperformed the KOSDAQ."
The KOSDAQ rose for a fourth straight trading day. After triggering a buy-sidecar for three consecutive trading days, it closed up 2.42% at 799.59 on the day. Individuals were net buyers of 395 billion won, while foreign investors and institutions were net sellers of 298 billion won and 110.8 billion won, respectively.