‘Goodbye, Jensen Huang’: Kospi Closes Below 5,300 After Shock Nvidia Exit, Affair Allegations

Lee Jae-myung’s capital-market meeting also fails to steady sentiment

South Korea’s Kospi erased an early rally and closed lower on November 13 after news broke that former Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang had resigned. Investors appeared to focus on concerns that the Nvidia turmoil could lead to tighter US export curbs on China. President Lee Jae-myung visited the Korea Exchange for a capital-market meeting and pledged support for the stock market, but failed to restore investor confidence.

The Kospi ended at 5,290.53, down 0.98% from the previous session. The benchmark briefly rose above 5,500 early in the day, but gave up all of its gains after foreign investors, who had been net buyers in the morning, turned into heavy sellers. The index at one point fell into the 5,200 range.

The decline was led by weakness in the market’s two biggest semiconductor stocks. Samsung Electronics fell 0.96% to 206,000 won, while SK Hynix dropped 3.03% to 1.216 million won. Investors said the sudden departure of Huang, who had led the global artificial-intelligence chip market, damped sentiment toward major Korean chipmakers after weighing on US stocks overnight.

Nvidia’s board earlier said in a statement that Huang would step down immediately as chief executive and director. It appointed Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Colette Kress as interim CEO. Nvidia shares opened down as much as 13.08%, but trimmed losses on bargain hunting and closed 4.34% lower.

Rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East surrounding Iran also weighed on Korean equities. After US President Donald Trump said on social media that “we do not need a deal with Iran,” international oil prices surged. That stoked concerns over higher costs and hit airline shares. Jeju Air tumbled 7.93% to 6,850 won, Jin Air fell 5.01% to 7,780 won, and Korean Air Lines slipped 0.32% to 31,550 won.

Korea Electric Power Corp. also drew attention after weak earnings, ending down 9.39% at 27,650 won. The utility disclosed after the previous session’s close that its preliminary third-quarter operating profit plunged 70.9% from a year earlier to 1.6441 trillion won. That was well below the securities-industry consensus of 2.4143 trillion won. The rise in energy prices after the Middle East conflict was seen feeding directly into costs, lifting the burden of fuel expenses and power purchases.

The market’s turn lower after Lee’s policy meeting also fueled analysis that investors, who had hoped for market-stabilization measures, moved to sell in disappointment. Lee Kyung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said expectations for short-term market support were only partly met because there was no immediate activation of a stock-market stabilization fund or a detailed implementation plan.

The Kosdaq briefly reclaimed the 700 level during the session but failed to hold it by the close. After opening up more than 1%, the tech-heavy gauge extended gains during Lee’s opening remarks and rose as high as 725.81. It later surrendered most of those gains and finished at 699.66, up 3.13 points, or 0.45%, from the previous session.

On the Kosdaq, individuals and foreign investors were net sellers of 73.8 billion won and 62.6 billion won, respectively. Institutions were net buyers of 127 billion won. Most large-cap stocks traded little changed, while semiconductor materials, parts and equipment shares such as Wonik IPS, Simmtech and EO Technics, which had led the recent rally, also ended lower.

Kang Kyung-ju, Hankyung.com reporter memory@hankyung.com