In Seoul, the KOSPI and KOSDAQ inched up to 4,153.35 and 911.88, respectively, as of 11:20 a.m. The market opened at 10:00 a.m.—one hour later than usual—due to the nationwide Suneung college entrance exam.
The Korean won weakened further, with the dollar gaining 4.60 won to hit a new annual high of 1,474.1 won despite fresh verbal intervention from authorities.
Large-cap stocks traded narrowly, with none among the top 10 names moving beyond a 1-percent range. Samsung Electronics rose 0.9 percent to 104,000 won ($71), while SK hynix gained 0.5 percent to 620,000 won. LG Energy Solution slipped 0.2 percent to 474,500 won, and Hyundai Motor eased 0.2 percent to 275,000 won.
Entertainment agency HYBE surged 5.3 percent to 306,500 won following reports that all five members of NewJeans, under its subsidiary label ADOR, would return to the company.
Meritz Securities raised its target price for HYBE to 380,000 won from 370,000 won, citing projected profit contributions of 6–7 billion won ($4.1–4.8 million) next year from NewJeans’ resumed activities and as much as 20–30 billion won annually from 2027. HYBE, valued at around 13 trillion won, manages top K-pop acts including BTS, SEVENTEEN, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, ENHYPEN, LE SSERAFIM, and ILLIT.
On the KOSDAQ, ABL Bio soared 27.3 percent to 161,300 won after announcing a $2.6 billion technology transfer deal with U.S. pharma giant Eli Lilly for its Grabody-B bispecific antibody platform.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.5 percent to 51,336.57, supported by modest gains among automakers. Toyota and Honda each added 0.3 percent, Nissan rose 0.9 percent, while Sony climbed 1.3 percent. Fast Retailing fell 1 percent, and SoftBank extended declines with a 3.4 percent drop.
In China, the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.1 percent to 3,995.66, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.3 percent to 26,844.56 amid continued caution across regional markets.
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