Kospi Jumps More Than 5% on US Chip Rally; Samsung Tops 280,000 Won, SK Hynix 210,000 Won

Foreign and institutional investors buy for a second straight session

Buy-side sidecars triggered on the Kospi and Kosdaq

South Korea’s Kospi surged more than 5% early on July 15, vaulting back above 7,200. The rally tracked overnight gains on Wall Street led by semiconductor shares. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the market’s two chip heavyweights, climbed back above 280,000 won and 210,000 won during the session.

As of 9:10 a.m., the Kospi was up 386.98 points, or 5.64%, at 7,243.81. The benchmark opened 3.3% higher and at one point extended gains to more than 6%. A buy-side sidecar, which temporarily halts program buy orders, was triggered about six minutes after the market opened.

On the main board, foreign investors were net buyers of 575.6 billion won and institutions purchased a net 193.2 billion won. Retail investors were net sellers of 818.8 billion won. Foreign and institutional investors extended their buying streak to a second straight session amid views that the market had entered oversold territory.

US stocks also ended higher overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.02%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose 0.38% and 0.9%, respectively. The gains followed a June US consumer price increase of 3.5%, below market expectations of 3.8%, easing concerns about further interest-rate hikes.

SK Hynix American depositary receipts soared 27.29%. Semiconductor shares broadly rallied, with SanDisk up 5.01%, Micron up 4.92%, Intel gaining 4.50% and Nvidia rising 4.06%.

In Seoul, Samsung Electronics climbed 5.7% and SK Hynix jumped 8.94%, reclaiming the 280,000 won and 210,000 won marks during the session.

Other top Kospi stocks also traded higher, including SK Square, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Hyundai Motor, LG Energy Solution, Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Biologics, KB Financial Group and Samsung C&T.

The Kosdaq was up 30.08 points, or 3.84%, at 814.06 at the same time. The index opened 2.77% higher, retook the 800 level and at one point expanded gains to nearly 5%. A buy-side sidecar was triggered on the Kosdaq at 9:17:14 a.m.

On the Kosdaq, retail investors were net buyers of 63.5 billion won, while foreign and institutional investors were net sellers of 50.5 billion won and 16.2 billion won, respectively.

Among the top 10 Kosdaq stocks by market capitalization, Alteogen, Ecopro BM, Ecopro, Jusung Engineering, Rainbow Robotics, Kolon TissueGene, Wonik IPS, Leeno Industrial and HLB rose, while PSK fell.

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