Seoul stocks jump nearly 6% as bargain buying lifts chipmakers

An electronic board showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index at a dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on Friday. (Yonhap)

South Korean stocks rebounded nearly 6 percent Friday as investors snapped up bargain-priced semiconductor shares after the previous session’s steep sell-off. The Korean won also strengthened against the US dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 440.25 points, or 5.76 percent, to close at 8,088.34, after rising as high as 8,211.54.

The rebound came after the index plunged 7.89 percent on Thursday, dragged down by a sharp sell-off in Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.

At around 1:50 p.m., the Korea Exchange activated a buy-side sidecar, halting program trading in KOSPI-listed shares for five minutes.

A buy-side sidecar is triggered when the KOSPI 200 Futures Index rises 5 percent or more and remains at that level for at least one minute.

Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 1 percent to a record high as weaker-than-expected June jobs data eased concerns over a near-term interest rate hike. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.8 percent, weighed down by ainother sharp sell-off in semiconductor stocks.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbled 5.4 percent, extending its decline for a second consecutive session.

Investors bought semiconductor shares following reports that AI startup Anthropic is in talks with Samsung Electronics to develop a custom AI chip.

Trade volume was moderate at 462.48 million shares worth 45.23 trillion won ($29.63 billion), with winners outnumbering decliners 587 to 296.

Institutions bought a net 4.46 trillion won, while foreigners and individuals sold a net 2.2 trillion won and 2.3 trillion won, respectively.

“Samsung Electronics and SK hynix opened lower following overnight losses in US semiconductor stocks, but rebounded after Thursday’s short-term sell-off, with buying momentum broadening in afternoon trading,” Lee Kyoung-min, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said.

Tech heavyweights staged a strong rebound, recouping some of the previous session’s steep losses.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics jumped 8.22 percent to 309,500 won, while chip giant SK hynix surged 10.88 percent to 2.42 million won after tumbling nearly 15 percent Thursday, its biggest one-day decline since 2008.

AI investment firm SK Square advanced 4.2 percent to 1.59 million won, while chip components maker Samsung Electro-Mechanics gained 3.27 percent to 1.98 million won.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,525.6 won per US dollar as of 3:30 p.m., up 30.2 won from the previous session. (Yonhap)