[Anchor]
SK Hynix announced record-breaking earnings today (July 29), but it failed to stop the plummeting market for a second consecutive day. Instead, failing to find a catalyst for a rebound, disappointed investors rushed to sell. The stock price has been cut in half from its peak, and predictions suggest that a turnaround will not be easy anytime soon.
Reporter Min Gyeongho has the story.
[Reporter]
Market participants, having endured yesterday's market crash, were hoping for a catalyst for a rebound.
Coincidentally, SK Hynix announced its second-quarter earnings this morning, and the results were an operating profit of 60 trillion won and an operating profit margin of 76 percent, both all-time highs.
However, this fell short of the market consensus average estimate of 63.5 trillion won.
During the SK Hynix conference call held simultaneously with the opening of the domestic stock market, no detailed information was provided regarding high-bandwidth memory (HBM) price negotiations, and there were no specific answers regarding shareholder returns.
[Kim Woo-hyun / CFO, SK Hynix (Conference Call): We are currently reviewing various ways to implement additional shareholder return measures.]
Disappointed by this, sell orders flooded in, and the void left by the missing rebound catalyst was filled with panic.
Retail investors, who had responded with net purchases despite yesterday's plunge of over 10 percent, net-sold nearly 2 trillion won today, dragging down the index.
Analysts suggest that as fear spread, so-called "avoidance volume" also appeared—forced selling to avoid margin calls resulting from the consecutive sharp declines.
[Shin Seung-jin / Head of Investment Information Team, Samsung Securities: In a situation where sharp drops are occurring, retail investors selling off is most accurately viewed as volume intended to avoid forced liquidation. Shortages in credit or margin calls are leading to a pattern where selling triggers more selling.]
Trading volumes for single-stock leverage and inverse products tied to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix surged even amid the market plunge.
Trading volume for the 16 products reached a total of 15.1 trillion won, nearly doubling yesterday's 8.3 trillion won, which analysts say amplified volatility.
Experts forecast that while the FOMC—which will determine U.S. interest rates—and earnings announcements from major tech giants driving semiconductor investments, such as Microsoft and Meta, are scheduled starting early tomorrow morning, they are unlikely to serve as catalysts strong enough to reverse the overall downward trend.
[Lee Jin-woo / Head of Research Center, Meritz Securities: Given that the drop is so steep and showing irrational movements, some rebound will naturally occur, but it is true that upcoming events are somewhat lacking to trigger an immediate recovery. It is a matter that requires time to watch...]
Experts warn that minor pretexts emerging during this process could trigger spasmodic, additional declines.
(Photo courtesy of Ha Ryung | Video Editing: Park Ji-in)
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