Despite macroeconomic deterioration due to Middle East unrest, the KOSPI index opened slightly higher on optimism over artificial intelligence (AI) on the 9th.
As of 9:03 a.m. that day, the KOSPI index was trading at 6,992.25, up 37.73 (0.54%) from the previous session.
Individuals net bought 75.9 billion won, lifting the index. Foreign investors and institutions showed net selling of 51.0 billion won and 38.7 billion won, respectively. Other corporations, where the buyback volumes of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are tallied, showed net buying of 13.8 billion won.
SK hynix(000660) is up 0.67%, and Samsung Electronics is up 0.09%. Most of the top market-cap stocks are trading slightly higher.
Overnight, New York stocks closed lower across the board. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.18%, the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 fell 0.58%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.32%.
It was due to renewed tensions in the Middle East. The Yemen Houthi rebels aligned with Iran claimed they carried out large-scale retaliatory attacks that day targeting facilities of Saudi Aramco, the state-run oil company of Saudi Arabia, and air bases.
On supply fears, international oil prices and Treasury yields jumped. Brent crude futures for November delivery settled at $97.92 a barrel, near $100. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield also closed above 4.8%.
However, AI corporations mostly closed higher. Intel (9.05%), AMD (5.9%), and SK hynix American depositary receipt (ADR) (4.83%) rose. Nvidia (-2.01%) and Micron (-1.61%) fell.
Han Ji-young of Kiwoom Securities said, "Since the launch of GPT-6, the semiconductor and AI narrative has been recovering, and KOSPI earnings estimates have not been damaged, so the fundamental upside drivers remain valid."
The KOSDAQ index is trading at 821.57, up 9.69 (1.19%). Individuals and foreign investors are net buying 7.4 billion won and 1.0 billion won, respectively. Institutions show net selling of 8.3 billion won.
On news that one of the drug candidates secured by Novartis failed in a phase 3 clinical trial, Alteogen(196170) alone is down 2%. Among top market-cap stocks, EcoPro, Jusung Engineering, Wonik IPS, SIMMTECH, and HPSP are mostly up more than 2%.