"Focus on Export-Themed Stocks... Food & Beverage and Semiconductors"

Attention should be paid to themes showing solid export flows, such as semiconductors and food and beverage.

Hwang Junho, a researcher at Sangsangin Securities, stated in a report on the 12th, "The Korean stock market showed an upward trend last week, supported by expectations of interest rate cuts and a recovery in risk asset preference sentiment as U.S. economic indicators showed signs of slowing down." He analyzed, "In particular, Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, denied rumors that Samsung Electronics' memory semiconductors failed their quality tests, highlighting the overall rise in the semiconductor sector."

He also explained that the solid export trend was further supported by semiconductor exports recording double-digit growth rates in Korea's exports from June 1 to 10.

As of the 11th, the KOSPI closed at 2,705.32, up 1.62% from the previous week. The KOSPI rose 2.61% in June and recorded a year-to-date (YTD) return of 1.88%.

According to Sangsangin Securities, the weekly return of the Sangsangin Theme Index was 0.13%. This return was 1.50 percentage points lower than the KOSPI's weekly return. Researcher Hwang said, "The Sangsangin Theme Index gained upward momentum as the chemical theme, which had shown sluggish performance in 2024, recorded the highest weekly increase due to a recovery in investor sentiment toward secondary batteries, driven by global electric vehicle battery usage exceeding expectations."

However, after the recently released U.S. May employment report showed non-farm payrolls exceeding expectations, dampening hopes for interest rate cuts, the KOSPI started lower on the 10th and barely held the 2,700 level.

Researcher Hwang Junho analyzed, "However, the bottom was supported as the upward trend continued due to sector-specific positive factors centered on the bio and secondary battery industries, which had shown limited movement due to high interest rates. Additionally, steady expectations for the value-up program attracted net buying from individual investors, mainly in financial stocks, providing additional upward momentum to the Korean stock market."

He also noted that the semiconductor sector is rising, led by beneficiaries related to high-bandwidth memory (HBM), and expects the upward trend to continue as the industry recovers. Researcher Hwang said, "The semiconductor export performance increased by 36.6% year-on-year from June 1 to 10, maintaining a positive outlook for the semiconductor industry, which supports the forecast for continued gains in the semiconductor sector. Furthermore, Apple’s announcement of AI-equipped mobile devices is expected to increase demand for memory semiconductors, supporting the view that the semiconductor industry recovery will accelerate."

He emphasized the need to pay attention to the food and beverage theme, which is rising due to two factors: new export markets and seasonal demand. Researcher Hwang said, "In fact, Korea's processed food exports increased by 28.2% year-on-year as of April, driven by rapid growth in the North American market, showing a higher growth rate than the overall export increase. Additionally, the trend of declining grain prices has expanded the price-cost spread, improving the profitability of food and beverage theme stocks and maintaining expectations for current stock price increases."

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