KOSPI Nears 7,000 Milestone… Why Semiconductor Stocks Surged Together

[Anchor]

When U.S. artificial intelligence company OpenAI unveiled its new model 'Astra,' domestic semiconductor stocks surged. Expectations of exploding demand for semiconductors drove widespread gains in related stocks, and the KOSPI jumped more than 4%, bringing it within a hair's breadth of reclaiming the 7,000-point mark.

Reporter Lee Tae-gwon has the details.

[Reporter]

Opening at 6,910, the KOSPI maintained its upward momentum and closed up 4.6% at 6,995.

With only 4.6 points remaining until the 7,000-point threshold, it marks the highest level in a month and a half.

Semiconductor stocks showed strong gains, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix soaring 5.6% and 8.2%, respectively.

This is interpreted as the effect of the new AI model 'Astra' unveiled by OpenAI on the 3rd.

OpenAI explained that Astra is not specialized in a specific field, but rather an early version of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) that learns and reasons across various fields to solve problems.

The market anticipated that as AI computing and data processing volumes increase, the demand for semiconductors will also surge rapidly.

[Han Ji-young / Researcher at Kiwoom Securities: Looking at the overall characteristics of its functions, it is an environment where more tokens are inevitably used. Using more tokens ultimately increases memory demand. The effect of improving suppressed investment sentiment is reflected in today's semiconductor rally….]

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also posted on his social media, declaring that the era of AGI has arrived and emphasizing that Astra was trained using the company's chips.

Goldman Sachs maintained its KOSPI target at 12,000 points, citing that the semiconductor earnings cycle could be extended.

However, even amidst the AI-driven semiconductor boom, concerns are rising that apart from share buybacks by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, no clear buying force is visible in the domestic stock market.

[Kim Jae-seung / Researcher at Hyundai Motor Securities: While it is true that memory stocks performed well, it does not seem easy to immediately resolve concerns over a supply-demand vacuum. Retail investors do not have strong buying momentum right now, and for foreign investors, the current macro environment is actually not favorable. Oil prices continue to rise and interest rates are also staying high.]

So far this month, the daily average trading value of the KOSPI has fallen below 20 trillion won, recording the lowest level this year.

(Photo courtesy of Yonhap News / Video reported by Kim Se-kyung and Bae Moon-san, Video edited by Kim Yoon-sung, Design by Jeon Yu-geun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.