Kospi hits 7-month low before surging more than 4% in early trade

Foreign investors drive 350 billion won in net purchases

Anthropic IPO filing lifts US semiconductor stocks overnight

Samsung Electronics up 5%, SK hynix up 7%

Analysts see combined 120 trillion won in additional shareholder returns

Kospi and Kosdaq indexes are displayed at the dealing room of Hana Bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Tuesday, as the Kospi opened with a gain of more than 3%. [Yonhap]
Kospi and Kosdaq indexes are displayed at the dealing room of Hana Bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Tuesday, as the Kospi opened with a gain of more than 3%. [Yonhap]

The Kospi rebounded Tuesday, lifted by a rally in US AI and semiconductor stocks following Anthropic's move to pursue an initial public offering, as well as a pullback in international oil prices.

Foreign buying flowed in during early trade, with large-cap chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix leading the advance. Investor sentiment received an additional boost from securities analysts forecasting that the two companies could carry out a combined 120 trillion won ($90.6 billion) in additional shareholder returns.

The Kospi opened up 3.46 percent, or 189.18 points, at 5,658.65 and extended its gains through the morning. As of 9:26 a.m., the index was up 231.72 points, or 4.24 percent, at 5,701.19.

At the same time, Samsung Electronics was trading up 11,750 won, or 5.52 percent, at 224,750 won, after opening 9,000 won, or 4.23 percent, higher at 222,000 won. SK hynix was up 90,000 won, or 7.06 percent, at 1.365 million won, having opened 71,000 won, or 5.57 percent, higher at 1.346 million won.

Among other large-cap stocks, SK Square rose 10.40 percent, Samsung Electro-Mechanics gained 7.78 percent, Samsung Electronics preferred shares added 4.99 percent, Samsung Life Insurance climbed 2.64 percent, LG Energy Solution advanced 1.73 percent, Hyundai Motor rose 1.56 percent and KB Financial Group edged up 0.14 percent. Samsung Biologics bucked the trend, falling 4.06 percent.

Foreign investors drove the day's gains. As of the same time, foreigners posted net purchases of 352.3 billion won on the main Kospi market, while institutions bought a net 46.6 billion won. Retail investors, by contrast, were net sellers of 410.7 billion won.

Securities analysts said Tuesday that Samsung Electronics and SK hynix could together undertake an additional 120 trillion won in shareholder returns going forward. Kim Dong-won, head of research at KB Securities, estimated Samsung Electronics' additional shareholder return capacity at 80 trillion won and SK hynix's at 40 trillion won. Record earnings-driven cash generation could fuel expanded dividends and share buyback and cancellation programs, ultimately resolving the stocks' undervaluation and prompting a broader rerating of their corporate value, the analysis said.

Overnight on Wall Street, Anthropic's move to pursue an IPO for its Claude AI model lifted sentiment across AI and semiconductor stocks. The company filed a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday (local time). Its first-half sales of $16.29 billion — more than 14 times the figure from the same period last year — reinforced expectations that AI demand is translating into real revenue growth.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 2.82 percent overnight in response. Micron gained 2.98 percent, AMD climbed 2.80 percent, Broadcom added 2.33 percent and Nvidia rose 2.39 percent. SK hynix's American depositary receipts also gained 4.09 percent. In its registration statement, Anthropic noted that HBM supply is concentrated among three companies — Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Micron. The disclosure brightened the investment outlook for domestic chipmakers by highlighting the importance of high-performance memory to the AI industry.

The NASDAQ Composite rose 0.83 percent overnight, the S&P 500 gained 0.70 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.28 percent. The MSCI Korea ETF, a key gauge for the domestic market, climbed 0.97 percent, while the KOSPI 200 overnight futures index rose 2.63 percent. Easing international oil prices were also cited as a factor supporting the rebound.

Caution persists, however, ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee's benchmark interest rate decision and earnings releases from major big-tech companies including Microsoft. Whether expanded AI investment will translate into semiconductor demand and earnings growth — and whether corporate results and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy direction will meet market expectations — remain key variables for the market's near-term trajectory.


kacew@heraldcorp.com