Seoul snaps back: KOSPI jumps 4.39% as SK hynix and Samsung lead the rebound
The KOSPI jumped 4.39% to 5,239.13 on Tuesday, ending a three-day slide, as SK hynix gained 6.69% to ₩1,212,000 and Samsung rose 4.74% to ₩198,900 — with foreign investors back buying after more than a week of selling.
📊 Scorecard: our Bullish call on $000660.KS is a hit so far: from ₩1,212,000 to ₩1,277,000 at the latest close (+5.4%). Against SOXX the call is right: the stock is 5.5 points ahead of the index.
The News
Seoul's stock market snapped back on Tuesday, November 10. The KOSPI — South Korea's main stock index, a single number that tracks the country's biggest listed companies — closed at 5,239.13, up 220.28 points, or 4.39%. It was the first gain after three straight sessions of sharp declines, and the index climbed as high as 5,300.92 during the day before settling back a little.
The chipmakers led the way. SK hynix, the world's second-largest maker of memory chips — the chips that store data in phones, computers and AI servers — closed at ₩1,212,000, up ₩76,000, or 6.69%. Samsung Electronics, the biggest memory maker, closed at ₩198,900, up ₩9,000, or 4.74%. The gains spread well beyond chips: winners beat losers across the market by 714 to 174, and a buy-side sidecar — a circuit breaker that briefly pauses futures trading when the market moves too fast — was triggered at 9:06 a.m. as the index opened 4.55% higher.
The rest of the chip supply chain joined in. SK Square, the investment arm that holds a large stake in SK hynix, rose 5.26% to ₩760,000, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics, which makes electronic parts, gained 4.63% to ₩882,000. It was a broad rally, not a two-stock story.
Two forces powered the rebound. Wall Street's chip stocks had surged on Monday — the PHLX Semiconductor Index, a basket of the biggest US chip stocks, rose 6.85% — and oil prices fell sharply after President Trump said overnight he was not prepared to resume military strikes against Iran. Foreign investors came back as net buyers after more than a week of selling: Yonhap put their net buying at ₩365.9 billion, while the Korea Times reported ₩353.2 billion — the two wires differ slightly, but both agree foreigners were buying again. Institutions — big professional investors such as pension funds — bought a net ₩489 billion of shares, while individual investors sold a net ₩1.3 trillion.
Seoul's chipmakers ended a three-day slide in style — the KOSPI's best day in weeks, led by the two memory giants.
Why It Matters
The bounce matters because the last three sessions had been brutal for the index. Seoul's chip stocks had been sliding hard with the global chip sell-off — SK hynix fell 9.46% on November 5 and 10.44% on November 6 — though both chipmakers actually edged up slightly on November 9 even as the KOSPI fell a third straight session. A 4.39% day does not erase those losses — it repairs only part of them — but it breaks the pattern: buyers stepped in, and they stepped in big, with foreigners returning after more than a week of net selling and institutions buying a net ₩489 billion.
It also shows how tightly Seoul is tied to two things it cannot control: Wall Street and oil. Monday's US chip rally gave Seoul its opening, and the drop in oil prices eased a fear — war in the Middle East pushing energy costs up — that had been hanging over the market. When both moved the right way on the same morning, the rebound was fast and broad: 714 stocks up, 174 down.
The split between buyers and sellers is worth noting too. Institutions bought a net ₩489 billion and foreigners returned to buying, while individual investors sold a net ₩1.3 trillion — the big money was buying the dip while small investors were still heading for the exits. In past sell-offs, that pattern has often marked the point where the selling exhausts itself.
Analyst's Take
Our call is Bullish. The three-day slide is over, the biggest memory makers led the recovery, and the buyers who had been selling for more than a week came back. The rebound still leaves SK hynix and Samsung below where they were before the rout, so this is a repair job, not a new high — but the direction has turned, and the size of the move says the market believes the worst of the slide is behind it.
What to watch: whether foreign investors keep buying in the days ahead, and whether Wall Street's chip rally holds. If the US rebound fades, Seoul's gains could fade with it. But for now, the memory trade is back on its feet.
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 4.39%, it means the overall value of those companies went up by that much in a day.
Why did Seoul rebound today?
Two forces lined up at once: Wall Street's chip stocks surged on Monday, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index up 6.85%, and oil prices fell sharply after President Trump said overnight he was not prepared to resume military strikes against Iran. Both eased fears that had been weighing on the market.
How much did SK hynix and Samsung gain?
SK hynix closed at ₩1,212,000, up ₩76,000, or 6.69%. Samsung closed at ₩198,900, up ₩9,000, or 4.74%. Both led the rebound — they are the two biggest memory-chip makers in the world.
Are the chip stocks back to their highs?
No. The rebound repairs only part of the damage from the three-day slide that came before it. The gains are real and broad, but SK hynix and Samsung are still below where they were before the rout.
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 9:06 a.m. on Tuesday as the KOSPI opened 4.55% higher.
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Source: Korea JoongAng Daily