Seoul rallies a second day: KOSPI up 2.60% as SK hynix and Samsung extend the rebound
The KOSPI rose 2.60% to 5,375.36 on Wednesday, its second straight sharp gain, as SK hynix jumped 5.36% to ₩1,277,000 and Samsung rose 3.57% to ₩206,000 — with foreign investors buying again and strong US demand for AI outweighing hot inflation data.
📊 Scorecard: our Bullish call on $000660.KS is scored from ₩1,277,000, the last close before it ran. Its first result comes after the next close.
The News
Seoul's stock market rallied for a second straight day on Wednesday, November 11. The KOSPI — South Korea's main stock index, a single number that tracks the country's biggest listed companies — closed at 5,375.36, up 136.23 points, or 2.60%. It was the second sharp gain in two days, after Tuesday's 4.39% snap-back, and it came despite the index opening 0.56% lower.
The chipmakers led again. SK hynix, the world's second-largest maker of memory chips — the chips that store data in phones, computers and AI servers — closed at ₩1,277,000, up ₩65,000, or 5.36%. Samsung Electronics, the biggest memory maker, closed at ₩206,000, up ₩7,100, or 3.57%. The rally spread well beyond chips: the KOSDAQ, the index that tracks smaller and technology-focused companies, jumped 5.62% to 705.10, and the Korea Exchange triggered a buy sidecar — a circuit breaker that briefly pauses futures trading when the market moves too fast — at 11:28 a.m. as cash and futures rose together, according to MoneyToday and AjuPress.
Foreign investors were net buyers again, for the second day running. Yonhap put their net buying at ₩655.26 billion and MoneyToday at ₩776 billion — the two wires differ on the exact figure, but both agree foreigners were buying. Both wires point to the same broad driver — strong demand for artificial intelligence in the United States — with MoneyToday crediting CoreWeave's strong earnings and Yonhap noting attention on Anthropic's planned IPO, which was strong enough to outweigh worries about hot US inflation and the chance of a Federal Reserve rate hike.
Seoul's rally is now two days old — and this time the buyers came back for more.
Why It Matters
The rally matters because it turns Tuesday's snap-back into a trend. One big day can be a fluke — a market bouncing after a fall. Two big days in a row, with the KOSPI up 4.39% then 2.60%, says buyers are stepping back in with conviction. SK hynix has now gained in two straight sessions, and the gains are broad: the KOSDAQ's 5.62% jump shows smaller companies are joining in, not just the two memory giants.
It also shows what Seoul is really betting on: American demand for AI. The drivers named by both wires were not Korean at all — they were a US data-centre company's earnings and a US AI company's stock-market debut. That is the same demand that has pushed memory prices up all year: AI data centres need enormous amounts of high-bandwidth memory, the kind SK hynix and Samsung make, and buyers are paying more for it. The hot US inflation report — prices rose faster than expected in October — would normally have hurt the rally by raising the chance of higher interest rates. On Wednesday, the AI story won.
The foreign buying is the third leg. Foreign investors — big funds based outside Korea — had been selling Korean shares for more than a week before Tuesday. Two straight days of net buying suggests the selling has run its course, at least for now. When the biggest buyers return at the same time as the index breaks higher, it usually means the market believes the worst of the slide is behind it.
Analyst's Take
Our call is Bullish. Two straight sharp gains, led by the two memory giants, with foreign buyers back and the AI demand story still intact — the direction has turned. The KOSPI is now well above where it stood before Tuesday's rebound, and the rally is broad rather than a two-stock story.
What to watch: whether Wall Street holds up. Seoul's rally is built on US demand for AI, so a bad day for US chip stocks would test it quickly. And the inflation worry has not gone away — if the Federal Reserve does raise rates in December, as markets now expect, that could take the edge off the rally. But for now, the memory trade is running again.
Are you bullish or bearish on this story?
By The Numbers
FAQ
What is the KOSPI?
The KOSPI is South Korea's main stock index — a single number that tracks the country's biggest listed companies. When it rises 2.60%, it means the overall value of those companies went up by that much in a day.
Why did Seoul rally for a second day?
The wires covering the market point to the same broad driver: strong demand for artificial intelligence in the United States. MoneyToday credited CoreWeave's strong earnings, and Yonhap noted attention on Anthropic's planned IPO, and that demand was strong enough to outweigh worries about hot US inflation and the chance of a Federal Reserve rate hike.
How much did SK hynix and Samsung gain?
SK hynix closed at ₩1,277,000, up ₩65,000, or 5.36%. Samsung closed at ₩206,000, up ₩7,100, or 3.57%. Both led the rally for the second day in a row.
What is a sidecar?
A sidecar is a circuit breaker on the stock exchange: when the market moves too fast, trading in futures — contracts to buy or sell shares at a set price later — is briefly paused to let things calm down. One was triggered at 11:28 a.m. on Wednesday as cash and futures rose together.
What could stop the rally?
Two things: Wall Street and interest rates. Seoul's rally is built on US demand for AI, so a bad day for US chip stocks would test it quickly. And if the Federal Reserve raises rates in December, as markets now expect, that could take the edge off the gains.
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Source: K-VIBE