Index tumbles 4.12% at open before reversing course

SK hynix surges 4.42%, leading index rebound

Solidigm IPO cancellation lifts investor sentiment

Foreigners net sell 981 billion won; institutions net buy 869 billion won

The Kospi is displayed at the dealing room of Hana Bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Friday. [Yonhap]
The Kospi is displayed at the dealing room of Hana Bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Friday. [Yonhap]

The Kospi staged a dramatic intraday reversal Friday, clawing back from a loss of more than 4 percent after a sharp selloff in US semiconductor stocks and rising oil prices driven by escalating tensions in the Middle East sent the index tumbling at the open.

Investor sentiment recovered — led by large-cap chipmakers — after SK hynix announced it was halting its review of a US initial public offering for its subsidiary Solidigm. The Kospi turned positive with just 20 minutes left in the session and closed above the 5,550 level.

According to Korea Exchange, the Kospi finished Friday up 16.53 points, or 0.30 percent, at 5,550.30. The index opened down 130.60 points, or 2.36 percent, at 5,403.17 and slid as far as 5,305.98 — a drop of 4.12 percent — in early trading before steadily paring losses and turning positive in the final stretch.

Institutions led the advance. On the main Kospi market, institutions net bought 869 billion won and individuals net bought 45 billion won ($34 million). Foreigners flipped to net selling for the first time in three sessions, offloading 981 billion won.

Overnight on Wall Street, the three major indexes closed mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.02 percent, while the S&P 500 fell 1.21 percent and the NASDAQ Composite tumbled 2.60 percent.

AI and semiconductor stocks were hit across the board after Meta swung to a free cash flow deficit and Tesla cut its capital expenditure outlook. Micron fell 6.26 percent, Nvidia dropped 4.40 percent, Intel lost 8.04 percent, SK hynix's American depositary receipts fell 8.07 percent and SanDisk shed 8.51 percent. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbled 6.72 percent.

Rising global oil prices tied to the escalating situation in the Middle East added to the pressure on equities. The domestic market opened lower, led by large-cap chipmakers, but sentiment partially recovered after SK hynix said it was scrapping its review of a US listing for its subsidiary Solidigm, helping lift the index off its lows.

In a pre-market disclosure, SK hynix said Solidigm had been reviewing various financing options to expand production capacity and strengthen competitiveness, but decided to halt its review of a pre-IPO process and initial public offering after weighing overall capital market conditions.

The market had long worried that a Solidigm listing would amount to a de facto dual listing that would dilute SK hynix shareholder value, and the announcement removed that uncertainty.

SK hynix, which had fallen more than 4 percent in early trading, reversed course to close up 4.42 percent at 1,277,000 won. Samsung Electronics, which had traded as low as 203,500 won, down 5.13 percent, shortly after the open, fully recovered its losses to finish up 0.47 percent at 215,500 won.

Many other large-cap stocks also turned positive or trimmed their losses. SK Square, the parent company of SK hynix, rose 3.20 percent, and Samsung Biologics surged 7.71 percent. On the downside, LG Energy Solution fell 1.79 percent, Samsung Electro-Mechanics dropped 2.01 percent, Hyundai Motor lost 1.99 percent and KB Financial Group declined 3.29 percent.

The Kosdaq extended its losing streak. The index fell 12.41 points, or 1.62 percent, to close at 751.69, marking a second consecutive session of losses. It opened down 15.78 points, or 2.07 percent, at 748.32 and at one point sank as low as 732.87, a drop of 4.09 percent, before recovering some ground in the afternoon.

On the Kosdaq, foreigners were net sellers of 44 billion won and institutions net sold 25 billion won, while individuals were net buyers of 63.5 billion won. Among top-cap stocks, HLB gained 0.73 percent, while Alteogen fell 2.81 percent, Ecopro dropped 5.83 percent, Ecopro BM lost 5.50 percent, Jusung Engineering declined 3.64 percent and Rainbow Robotics fell 3.42 percent.

The won weakened slightly against the dollar. As of 3:30 p.m. in the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won-dollar rate stood at 1,324.6 won, up 0.4 won from the previous session's close.


th5@heraldcorp.com