South Korea’s stock market staged a sharp rebound, with the KOSPI rising 8.18% to close at 8,097, almost fully recovering the 8.29% drop from the previous session. The rally was strong enough to trigger an upward sidecar during trading, briefly halting program trading for five minutes.
SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics drove the recovery
Large-cap chip names led the move higher. SK Hynix climbed 15.91%, while Samsung Electronics gained 8.97%. Both stocks had fallen heavily in the prior session, down 7.68% and 10.18% respectively, making the latest rebound larger than their earlier declines.
Jensen Huang signed multiple AI agreements in Seoul
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang arrived in Seoul on the 4th and signed five AI-related agreements during the visit. The list included a multi-year AI memory technology partnership with SK Hynix covering HBM and next-generation memory for four NVIDIA computing platforms. He also signed deals with Naver on an end-to-end AI factory, with SK Telecom on a gigawatt-scale AI cloud scheduled for 2027, with LG Group on robotics and autonomous driving AI factories, and with Hyundai Motor on mobility AI.
Huang said publicly, “We are at the beginning. No matter what happened in the stock market, you should be happy because now you can buy at a discount.” He also warned that AI memory shortages could last for years.
Philadelphia chip rebound helped lift Asian equities
Overnight in the US, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rebounded 5.8%. Micron rose 9.9% and Marvell gained 9.6%, giving Asian semiconductor shares a boost at the open. Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 2.17% to 65,416, with Tokyo Electron up 8.9% and Murata Manufacturing up 11.3%. Taiwan’s weighted index rose 2.65% to 44,654.
The rebound followed a violent sell-off. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index had dropped 10.26% on Friday, and the KOSPI had previously triggered a circuit breaker after an 8.29% fall. Even after the one-day recovery, the KOSPI remained 9.4% below its June 3 record high of 8,934.