KOSPI and KOSDAQ Start Higher... Foreigners 'Buy' Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix

Rising on Expectations of US Interest Rate Hold
Semiconductors Lead Top Market Cap Stocks on KOSPI

The KOSPI and KOSDAQ opened higher. The expectation of the Federal Reserve (Fed) holding interest rates steady grew after the U.S. May Consumer Price Index (CPI) came in lower than expected at 4.0%. Additionally, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index in the U.S. stock market closed more than 3% higher the previous day (local time), which also had a positive effect. As a result, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are leading the KOSPI in the domestic stock market.

As of 9:24 a.m. on the 13th, the KOSPI is trading at 2,638.55, up 0.35% (9.20 points) from the previous day. The KOSPI opened at 2,644.43, up 0.57% (15.08 points) from the previous day.

Individuals and institutions are driving the index with net purchases of 39.8 billion KRW and 40.7 billion KRW, respectively. Foreigners alone are net sellers with 57.9 billion KRW. In the futures market, individuals and foreigners are buying 23.2 billion KRW and 16.8 billion KRW, respectively. Meanwhile, institutions alone are selling 31.4 billion KRW.

Among the top 10 stocks by market capitalization, only LG Chem is unchanged. SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics are up 3.14% and 1.13%, ranking first and second in gains. At this time, foreigners are buying SK Hynix shares worth 6.02 billion KRW and Samsung Electronics shares worth 924 million KRW.

The strong performance of semiconductor stocks is influenced by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index closing up 3.31% in the U.S. market. Citigroup announced that Micron would be the best choice even if the semiconductor sector declines after the AI-led rally, leading to a 3.09% rise. Broadcom surged 6.31% thanks to the announcement of chips that improve power efficiency of Wi-Fi routers, and news that the European Union (EU) is likely to grant conditional approval for the acquisition of cloud computing company VMware was also positive.

On the other hand, LG Energy Solution is down 0.82%, Samsung SDI down 0.41%, and POSCO Holdings down 0.64%.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

As of 9:36 a.m., the KOSDAQ is at 891.87, up 0.69% (6.11 points) from the previous day. The KOSDAQ opened at 890.81, up 0.57% (5.05 points) from the previous day.

Individuals and institutions are driving the index. Individuals are net buyers of 43.8 billion KRW, and institutions are net buyers of 16.5 billion KRW. Meanwhile, foreigners alone are net sellers of 56.5 billion KRW.

The top 10 stocks by market capitalization are mostly rising. Pearl Abyss +2.59%, Kakao Games +1.13%, EcoPro +1.01%, HLB +0.99%, Celltrion Healthcare +0.98%, and Celltrion Pharm +0.98% are all up.

The Korean stock market is showing an upward trend due to growing expectations that the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will hold interest rates steady. The New York Fed announced the 1-year expected inflation rate at 4.1% the previous day (local time). This is 0.3 percentage points lower than the previous 4.4%, marking the lowest level since May 2021.

The market is raising expectations for the FOMC based on the slowdown in 1-year expected inflation. According to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) FedWatch, investors in the federal funds futures market see a 77% probability of a rate hold in June.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.