▲ Employees monitor stock prices and exchange rates at the dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 7th.
The KOSPI is rising in early trading on the 7th, propelled by gains in large-cap semiconductor stocks driven by positive sentiment surrounding OpenAI's release of its new AI model, "Astra".
According to the Korea Exchange, as of 9:15 AM today, the KOSPI stood at 6,909.61, up 222.40 points (3.33%) from the previous trading session.
The index opened at 6,910.78, up 223.57 points (3.34%) from the previous close, showing a gain in the 3% range and reclaiming the 6,900 level.
In the KOSPI market, foreign investors and institutional investors are net buyers of 536.3 billion won and 473.1 billion won, respectively, while retail investors are net sellers of 1.0745 trillion won.
Additionally, other corporate entities are net buyers of 69.3 billion won.
The index gains appear to stem from a sharp rally in U.S. semiconductor stocks—which exert a heavy influence on the domestic market—during the previous trading session on the 4th.
As OpenAI announced the dawn of the Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) era by launching its new AI model "Astra," which was evaluated at a "Critical" security rating level, expectations grew that demand for high-capacity products will expand and memory price increases will continue.
Although all three major U.S. stock indices declined, major memory semiconductor stocks surged, including Micron (+6.10%), SanDisk (+11.90%), Seagate (+6.34%), and Western Digital (+5.86%).
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 3.38%, and SK Hynix ADR (8.14%) also advanced.
Riding this U.S.-origin tailwind, the "semiconductor duo" Samsung Electronics (+4.31%) and SK Hynix (+5.95%) surged, pulling the index higher.
Related stocks such as SK Square (+6.44%), Samsung Life Insurance (+4.71%), and Samsung C&T (+3.81%) are also climbing. Among top market-cap stocks, Samsung Electro-Mechanics (+2.50%), LG Energy Solution (+0.42%), and Hyundai Motor (+1.83%) are on the rise.
Conversely, Samsung SDI (-0.91%), Celltrion (-0.11%), and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (-0.60%) are declining.
By sector, electrical and electronic goods (+4.96%) are gaining amid a surge in tech stocks, while manufacturing (+3.95%), finance (+2.51%), and distribution (+2.45%) are also up.
However, food and tobacco (-1.99%), textiles and apparel (-1.46%), and real estate (-0.98%) are moving lower.
Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kirom Securities, noted, "As signaled by last Friday's (the 4th) U.S. semiconductor stock rally, it is increasingly likely that persistent selling pressure on domestic and foreign semiconductor stocks is being exhausted. Therefore, it is appropriate to base our outlook on a path where the market's recovery momentum strengthens compared to last week while digesting Oracle's earnings and the August Consumer Price Index (CPI)."
At the same time, the KOSDAQ index stood at 823.16, up 9.66 points (1.19%) from the previous close.
The index opened at 822.91, up 9.41 points (1.16%) from the prior session, maintaining gains in the 1% range.
While retail investors are net buyers of 37.2 billion won, foreign investors and institutional investors are net sellers of 34.1 billion won and 6.3 billion won, respectively.
Among top market-cap KOSDAQ stocks, EcoPro (+0.12%), EcoPro BM (+0.19%), and Rainbow Robotics (+1.42%) are advancing, whereas Alteogen (-1.56%), ABL Bio (-0.70%), and PharmaResearch (-1.94%) are retreating.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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