Kospi Enters Bull Market on AI Rally, Up 23% From July Low
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- Kospi jumped over 4% in early Thursday trade, pushing its rebound from the July 30 low to roughly 23% and lifting the benchmark into technical bull market territory, per LSEG data
- Samsung Electronics rose more than 4% and SK Hynix gained over 7%, with the chip heavyweights leading the index's advance as memory demand tied to AI infrastructure revived
- Supermicro and cloud provider CoreWeave surged overnight on better-than-expected results, reinforcing global investor confidence that heavy AI infrastructure spending will continue
- David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation, said the "AI spending boom is far from over," pointing to strong results from US AI-related companies as the catalyst for renewed Korean chip demand
- Mark Newton, head of technical strategy at Fundstrat Global Advisors, said the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF broke above a key technical level, confirming a reversal pattern "attractive technically for further near-term gains"
- Memory shares are beginning to outperform the broader tech sector for the first time since June, per Fundstrat — a sign that one of the last major corners of tech is finally turning higher
- Newton cautioned the rally could lose momentum later this month if US Treasury yields and the dollar begin climbing again, even as he called South Korea and memory stocks "the right vehicles for near-term risk-on exposure"
Why it matters: Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix carry outsized weight on the Kospi, so their simultaneous 4%+ and 7%+ surges directly powered the benchmark's roughly 23% rebound from the July 30 low into technical bull territory in just over a month. Memory chips beginning to outperform broader tech for the first time since June — per Fundstrat — signals the AI-trade rotation is broadening, though Newton's flagged risk of climbing US Treasury yields could test the rally later this month.
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