Kospi briefly tops 5,500 in early trade Friday

Foreigners net buy 200 billion won for 4th straight session

Samsung Electronics up 3.37%, SK hynix up 4.70%

An employee works at the dealing room of Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Friday, as the Kospi rises more than 2 percent in early trade. [Yonhap]
An employee works at the dealing room of Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Friday, as the Kospi rises more than 2 percent in early trade. [Yonhap]

The Kospi surged nearly 3 percent in early trade Friday, briefly touching the 5,500 level, even as US stocks fell across the board following the abrupt resignation of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

Foreign investors extended their net buying to a fourth consecutive session, with heavyweight semiconductor stocks Samsung Electronics and SK hynix both posting sharp gains and leading the index higher. Investor sentiment toward domestic chip shares remained resilient despite the management uncertainty at Nvidia.

According to Korea Exchange, the Kospi opened up 109.68 points, or 2.05 percent, at 5,452.41 and briefly climbed as high as 5,504.44 — a gain of 3.03 percent — touching the 5,500 mark in early trade.

The rally was driven by returning foreign investors. Foreigners posted net purchases of 200 billion won ($150 million) on the main Kospi market, extending their buying streak to four consecutive sessions. Institutions were also net buyers at 50.6 billion won. Retail investors continued to sell, posting net selling of 276.2 billion won for a fifth straight session.

Overnight, Nvidia's board announced in a statement that Jensen Huang had stepped down immediately as CEO and as a board member. The company named Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Colette Kress as interim CEO.

Huang had recently been embroiled in an extramarital affair scandal, and news of a possible ouster appeared to have weighed on the domestic market on Thursday as well.

On Wall Street, all three major indexes fell amid Huang's resignation and a sharp rise in crude oil prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 189.40 points, or 0.36 percent, while the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite fell 0.35 percent and 0.39 percent, respectively.

Nvidia shares opened down 13.08 percent but pared losses to close 4.34 percent lower. Concerns over AI supply chain disruptions stemming from the Nvidia situation weighed on memory chip suppliers, with Micron falling 1.59 percent, SanDisk dropping 4.11 percent, and SK hynix's American depositary receipts declining 3.19 percent. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index slipped 0.54 percent.

Rivals AMD and Broadcom bucked the trend, rising 5.86 percent and 5.54 percent, respectively, on expectations they could benefit from Nvidia's troubles.

Oil prices also climbed again after US President Donald Trump posted on his social media platform that "we don't need a deal with Iran," signaling a hardline stance that further dampened investor sentiment.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures for December delivery rose 2.55 percent, while Brent crude futures for January delivery gained 3.30 percent.

The domestic market, however, continued to advance on sustained foreign buying. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix — the two pillars of Korea's semiconductor sector — rose 3.37 percent and 4.70 percent, respectively, a sharp contrast to their performance on Thursday.

The Kosdaq also moved higher, opening up 9.43 points, or 1.35 percent, at 705.96 to reclaim the 700 level, and briefly rising as much as 3.00 percent to 717.43. On the Kosdaq, retail investors and institutions were net buyers of 14.6 billion won and 12 billion won, respectively, while foreigners were net sellers of 27.2 billion won.


th5@heraldcorp.com