Kospi Reclaims 6,700, Sets Fresh Record on US Big Tech Earnings Boost

Korea Economic Daily

Summary

The Kospi extended early gains, reclaiming 6,700 and setting another record high.
On the benchmark stock market, foreign investors were net buyers of 403.6 billion won, while retail and institutional investors were net sellers.
Strong first-quarter earnings from big tech companies and higher capex guidance lifted expectations that the AI investment cycle will continue.

Forecast Trend Report by Period

South Korea’s Kospi rose in early trading on April 30, climbing back above 6,700 and setting another record high as upbeat earnings from US big tech companies including Alphabet and Amazon lifted sentiment.

As of 9:11 a.m., the Kospi was up 43.65 points, or 0.65%, at 6,734.55. The index opened 0.72% higher and extended its gains to as much as 6,750.27, a fresh all-time high.

Foreign investors were net buyers of 403.6 billion won on the KOSPI, returning to net purchases for the first time in three trading days since April 27. Retail investors and institutions were net sellers of 210 billion won and 180.1 billion won, respectively.

The gains followed strong overnight first-quarter earnings from big tech companies including Alphabet and Amazon. Alphabet reported first-quarter revenue of $109.9 billion, up 22% from a year earlier. Meta Platforms, Amazon and Microsoft also posted revenue growth of 33%, 16.6% and 18%, respectively. All four companies beat Wall Street estimates.

Higher capital-expenditure guidance for this year also strengthened expectations that the artificial-intelligence investment cycle will continue.

“The fact that the four companies’ combined capex for this year has been raised to about $660 billion from an earlier range of $630 billion to $650 billion suggests AI demand expansion and the investment cycle can continue,” Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said.

Among the Kospi’s biggest companies by market capitalization, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, SK Square, Hanwha Aerospace, Samsung Biologics, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, KB Financial Group and Samsung SDI rose, while Hyundai Motor, LG Energy Solution, Doosan Enerbility, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Kia fell.

The Kosdaq fell 3.72 points, or 0.3%, to 1,216.54 at the same time. The index opened 0.37% higher, but turned lower around 9:04 a.m. and remained in negative territory.

On the Kosdaq, foreign investors and institutions were net sellers of 202.4 billion won and 57.6 billion won, respectively. Retail investors were net buyers of 293.9 billion won.

Among the Kosdaq’s top companies by market capitalization, EcoPro, EcoPro BM, Alteogen, Samchundang Pharm, Kolon TissueGene, HLB, ABL Bio, LigaChem Biosciences and Peptron fell, while Rainbow Robotics and Leeno Industrial rose.

In Seoul’s foreign-exchange market, the won opened at 1,486.5 per dollar, up 7.5 won from the previous daytime session’s close.

Ko Jeong-sam, Hankyung.com reporter, jsk@hankyung.com