Bargain hunting amid easing AI concerns; KOSPI rebounds in the 3% range [fn Market Close]

[Financial News] The KOSPI rebounded as bargain-hunting buying flowed in amid easing concerns about artificial intelligence (AI).
The KOSPI closed at 5,735.66 on the 21st, up 182.92 points (3.29%) from the previous trading session.
Foreign investors led the index’s gains. Retail investors and institutions were net sellers of 1.1319 trillion won and 71.5 billion won, respectively, while foreign investors were net buyers of 660.3 billion won. Other corporations also net bought 543.1 billion won, helping absorb the selling.
A program-trading buy-sidecar, which temporarily suspends program buy orders, was also triggered on the KOSPI market that morning. It had been about two months since a buy-sidecar was last triggered on the market, on August 20. A KOSPI buy-sidecar is triggered when the price of KOSPI 200 Futures rises by at least 5% from its reference price and stays at that level for one minute.
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix closed up in the 5% range. Samsung Electronics gained 5.67%, while SK hynix rose 5.81%.
Other gainers included SK Square (5.13%), Samsung Electro-Mechanics (1.13%), Samsung Biologics (1.87%), Samsung Life Insurance (3.38%) and Samsung C&T (5.45%). By contrast, LG Energy Solution (-0.60%), Hyundai Motor (-0.16%), KB Financial Group (-0.19%), Samsung SDI (-0.36%) and Kia (-1.69%) fell.
By sector, medical and precision instruments, electrical and electronics, manufacturing, distribution, construction, general services, financials and securities rose, while metals, communications, textiles and apparel, paper and wood, entertainment and culture, and non-metallics fell.
Bargain buying following the previous day’s decline, along with an “earnings surprise” from U.S. AI server company Supermicro, led to buying focused on semiconductors. With SpaceX posting strong results and AI revenue surging, concerns related to AI also eased.
Kang Jin-hyuk, a researcher at Shinhan Securities, said, “SpaceX posted a revenue surprise, with AI revenue surging 830% and accounting for more than half of the total.” He analyzed that “by moving away from its previous reliance on Starlink cash flow and justifying capital expenditures with rapid growth in superintelligence (SI) revenue, it has allayed market skepticism.”
Meanwhile, the KOSDAQ closed at 792.76, up 10.79 points (1.38%) from the previous session.

[email protected] Seo Min-ji Reporter