With Samsung Electronics and SK hynix taking a breather, buying flocked to biotech and semiconductor materials, parts and equipment stocks, sending the KOSDAQ index sharply higher on the 10th. The index jumped 6%, triggering the "buy sidecar" again after four trading days.

A market board in the Hana Bank dealing room in Jung-gu, Seoul, displays the KOSPI and other market indicators on the morning of the 10th. /Courtesy of News1.

The KOSPI index closed at 6,299.66, up 40.89 (0.65%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 6,306.33 and looked set to rise more than 1% early in the session, but showed a firm, slightly positive intraday trend amid selling.

Individuals and institutions were net buyers of 892.8 billion won and 576.2 billion won, respectively. Foreign investors alone were net sellers of 1.4905 trillion won. However, looking closer at institutions, pension funds and investment trusts were net sellers, while financial investment, which tallies exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows, was a net buyer of 626.3 billion won.

Market caution over rate hikes eased significantly. U.S. employment data fell far short of market expectations, lowering concerns about Federal Reserve tightening. According to CME FedWatch, the probability of holding the benchmark rate in September rose to 55%.

However, investor sentiment chilled around semiconductor stocks on news that Apple is considering adopting memory from China's Changxin Memory Technologies (CXMT). With the artificial intelligence (AI) boom sending memory prices sharply higher, this is a move to diversify the supply chain.

Both Samsung Electronics and SK hynix ended slightly lower. Semiconductor stocks took a breather, but equipment names such as HANMI Semiconductor(042700) were strong.

While the KOSPI paused, the KOSDAQ surged. The index closed at 854.47, up 55.66 (6.97%) from the previous trading day. The index opened higher and expanded gains, triggering the intraday buy sidecar.

Foreign investors and institutions were net buyers of 103.1 billion won and 566 billion won, respectively. Among institutions, pension funds, banks, investment trusts, insurers, and financial investment were all net buyers. Individuals alone were net sellers of 672.9 billion won.

Alteogen(196170) jumped 15% on news that a BlackRock fund holds more than a 5% equity stake. With broad buying in biotech and pharmaceuticals, ABL Bio (8.08%) and HLB (9.11%) were also strong.

Materials, parts and equipment stocks were also strong. Jusung Engineering(036930) rose 13.3%, and Wonik IPS finished up 11.44%.

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