Samsung Electronics, SK hynix lead early gains

SK hynix announces 60 trillion won in additional shareholder returns

AI monetization fears ease; oil prices fall

SK hynix's real-time share price is displayed at the dealing room of Hana Bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday, as the Kospi opened with gains of around 2 percent. [Yonhap]
SK hynix's real-time share price is displayed at the dealing room of Hana Bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday, as the Kospi opened with gains of around 2 percent. [Yonhap]

The Kospi surged more than 3 percent in early trading Wednesday, buoyed by strong earnings from Anthropic and SK hynix.

At 9:21 a.m., the Kospi stood at 5,826.16, up 3.33 percent from the previous session. The index opened up 2.23 percent at 5,763.85 before extending its gains.

The benchmark had closed up 3.09 percent at 5,638.34 on Tuesday and continued its upward momentum Wednesday.

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix — the two largest stocks by market cap — led the advance with sharp gains.

Samsung Electronics rose 4.95 percent to 233,000 won ($176), while SK hynix climbed 3.43 percent to 1.387 million won.

Both stocks had already posted strong gains Tuesday, with Samsung Electronics up 4.2 percent and SK hynix up 5.2 percent.

Investor sentiment received a boost after Anthropic, the developer of the AI model Claude, revealed a stronger-than-expected financial position as it moved toward an initial public offering, easing widespread concerns about the profitability of AI investment.

SK hynix's third-quarter earnings and shareholder return announcement, released Wednesday, added further momentum to the rally.

SK hynix reported consolidated sales of 104.62 trillion won and operating profit of 83.33 trillion won for the third quarter of this year, up 327.9 percent and 632.1 percent, respectively, from the same period last year.

It was the first time the company's quarterly sales surpassed 100 trillion won. Operating profit far exceeded the market consensus of around 77 trillion won.

On the back of the strong results, SK hynix said it would carry out 100 trillion won in total shareholder returns for the full year, following the completion of a 40 trillion won buyback. The plan includes cash dividends of more than 30 trillion won and share acquisition and cancellation of more than 60 trillion won.

Samsung Electronics preferred shares rose 7.66 percent and SK Square gained 4.11 percent.

Other large-cap stocks also advanced, with Samsung Electro-Mechanics up 6.16 percent, LG Energy Solution up 1.83 percent, Samsung Biologics up 0.95 percent and Hyundai Motor up 3.10 percent.

By investor type, retail investors were net sellers of 73.7 billion won on the Kospi, while foreign and institutional investors were net buyers of 80.4 billion won and 6.6 billion won, respectively.

The Kosdaq also rose 3.33 percent to 768.61 at the same time. Top-cap stocks including Alteogen (up 3.20 percent), Ecopro (up 3.63 percent), Ecopro BM (up 3.07 percent), Jusung Engineering (up 4.86 percent) and Rainbow Robotics (up 11.95 percent) all posted gains.

On the Kosdaq, retail investors were net sellers of 25 billion won, while foreign and institutional investors were net buyers of 25.5 billion won and 1.8 billion won, respectively.

A decline in global oil prices also lifted market sentiment, as hopes grew for progress in Middle East peace talks. December-delivery Brent crude settled down 1.67 percent at $113.88 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate fell 1.83 percent to $99.90.

The price drop came after Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey — three members of the Mecca Joint Defense Pact — along with Iran agreed to continue dialogue toward peace.

Market attention is now turning to earnings releases from Microsoft and Alphabet, as well as the Federal Reserve's benchmark interest rate decision, both scheduled for Wednesday.

Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said share prices were expected to recover through year-end, supported by technical buying following October's sharp selloff and a partial easing of concerns about the AI industry from third-quarter earnings results.


jiyun@heraldcorp.com