Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix surge on Micron earnings beat
Institutions buy 3 trillion won as retail, foreign investors sell
Kosdaq falls more than 2%, slips below 900
The Kospi reclaimed the 9,000 level on Thursday, recovering the milestone for the first time in three trading sessions since Monday.
An overnight earnings beat by US memory chipmaker Micron Technology reaffirmed growth momentum in the semiconductor sector, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix leading the index higher.
As of 2:35 p.m., the Kospi was up 6.51 percent at 9,022.18, according to Korea Exchange. The index opened 2.74 percent higher at 8,703.42 and extended its gains in early trading, briefly touching an intraday high of 9,034.36.
The two semiconductor heavyweights drove the surge. Samsung Electronics was up 6.17 percent at 360,500 won ($234), while SK Hynix soared 15.04 percent to 2,968,000 won.
SK Square rose 8.06 percent to 1,944,000 won, and Samsung Electronics preferred shares climbed 12.06 percent to 239,250 won.
Micron's strong results overnight lifted investor sentiment toward domestic chipmakers. The company reported fiscal third-quarter (March–May) revenue of about 64 trillion won, a 345.7 percent increase from a year earlier, and said its operating profit margin rose to 81.2 percent — more than 10 percentage points above the previous quarter. Micron shares, which had closed down 0.3 percent in regular trading before the announcement, surged more than 15 percent in after-hours trading.
Company-specific catalysts also provided a boost. Samsung Electronics said it would soon launch a 90 trillion won buyback, while SK Hynix announced plans to list its American depositary receipts on the Nasdaq on July 10. Both companies' market capitalizations recovered to above 2,000 trillion won.
Samsung Group affiliates broadly advanced. Samsung C&T surged 9.24 percent. Samsung Life Insurance (up 5.66 percent), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (up 2.04 percent) and Samsung Biologics (up 1.16 percent) also rose. Hyundai Motor (down 1.18 percent) and LG Energy Solution (down 3.56 percent) were the only decliners among the top 10 stocks by market cap.
The sharp index gains triggered a sidecar — a temporary suspension of program-trading buy orders — in the main market early in the session. Korea Exchange activated the measure at 9:07:03 a.m. after KOSPI 200 futures prices jumped more than 5 percent from the previous session.
Retail investors and foreign investors were net sellers of 2.2005 trillion won and 1.1368 trillion won, respectively, while institutions were net buyers of 3.3265 trillion won.
Foreign investors have been net sellers in the main market for five consecutive trading sessions from June 19 through Thursday's intraday trading, according to Korea Exchange. Retail investors had been net buyers from June 19 through Wednesday, but turned to selling Thursday as share prices surged, appearing to lock in profits.
The Kosdaq was in negative territory. As of the same time, the index was down 2.62 percent at 885.50.
In the Kosdaq market, retail investors were net buyers of 183.8 billion won, while institutions and foreign investors were net sellers of 24.2 billion won and 164 billion won, respectively.
jiyun@heraldcorp.com
