Seoul:South Korean stocks saw a significant surge, rising nearly 6 percent late Wednesday morning, primarily driven by a rally in chipmakers following SK hynix's announcement of record quarterly earnings and additional shareholder returns.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) opened 2.23 percent higher and continued its upward trajectory, trading up 326.79 points, or 5.8 percent, to 5,965.13 as of 1120 a.m. The Korea Exchange activated a buy-side sidecar shortly before 10 a.m., suspending buy orders in program trading for KOSPI-listed shares for five minutes. This measure was triggered when KOSPI 200 futures rose at least 5 percent and remained at that level for one minute or longer.
Overnight gains in U.S. stocks, particularly in AI-related technology shares, contributed to the positive investor sentiment toward South Korean chipmakers. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.18 percent, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped 3.6 percent. Earlier, SK hynix reported record-high revenue and operating profit for the third quarter due to strong memory chip demand and announced a shareholder return program worth over 100 trillion won (US$75.3 billion) for 2026.
Investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate decision scheduled for early Thursday (Korean time) as they awaited signals on the future path of U.S. interest rates. KOSPI heavyweights saw significant gains, with Samsung Electronics advancing 7.77 percent, SK hynix increasing 7.76 percent, SK Square jumping 8.7 percent, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics surging 9.16 percent. Meanwhile, the Korean won was trading at 1,336.0 won against the U.S. dollar at 1120 a.m., down 9 won from the previous session's close.