On the 18th, the KOSPI opened up more than 2%. Despite headwinds from Middle East geopolitical risks and a surge in U.S. Government Bonds yields, expectations for improvements in artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor conditions and an inflow of funds into large-cap stocks by market capitalization appear to have lifted the index.
The KOSPI started trading at 7,127.77, up 149.83 points (2.15%) from the previous session. In the main board, foreign investors alone net bought 584.1 billion won, driving the index higher. Individuals and institutions show net selling of 442 billion won and 123 billion won, respectively.
Most top-cap stocks are strong. On expectations of benefits for AI Semiconductor, Samsung Electronics(005930) (3.10%) and SK hynix(000660) (5.71%) are surging, while SK Square(402340) (3.12%), Samsung Life Insurance(032830) (2.82%), Samsung Electro-Mechanics(009150) (2.05%), and Samsung C&T(028260) (2.03%) are also rising across the board.
Overnight, New York stocks closed lower across the three major indexes on heightened Middle East tensions following the end of a temporary truce between the United States and Iran and a spike in Government Bonds yields. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 272.63 points (0.51%) to 53,459.78 from the previous session. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 and the Nasdaq also fell 0.52% and 0.32%, respectively.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) jumped 2.6% and the U.S. 10-year Government Bonds yield spiked to 4.726% annually, weighing on investor sentiment.
However, news that Anthropic, developer of the AI chatbot Claude, saw second-quarter revenue surpass $11.5 billion (about 15 trillion won), more than a 14-fold surge, strongly boosted investor sentiment for tech stocks. Micron rose 4%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index climbed 1.6%. Warmth is also spreading to domestic semiconductor and large-cap tech stocks, helping drive a sharp rally in the index.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ was also on the rise, up 1.94 points (0.22%) to 866.59 from the previous session. In the KOSDAQ market, individuals are net buying 60.8 billion won, while foreigners and institutions are net selling 49.6 billion won and 11.3 billion won, respectively.
Among top KOSDAQ market-cap stocks, semiconductor equipment and core tech names are leading gains, with FADU(440110) (11.91%), HPSP(403870) (4.08%), EO Technics(039030) (3.96%), and Jusung Engineering(036930) (2.98%) showing strength.
By contrast, some bio and secondary battery names are catching their breath, including Caregen(214370) (-6.46%), LigaChem Biosciences(141080) (-3.78%), EcoPro BM(247540) (-3.77%), EcoPro(086520) (-2.78%), and Alteogen(196170) (-2.07%).