The KOSPI index is experiencing a surge of over 6% due to bargain hunting following a more than 5% drop the previous day and a stabilization in U.S. long-term interest rates. The semiconductor sector is seeing strong performance, particularly after SK Hynix announced a 40 trillion won stock buyback and cancellation, which has attracted both foreign and institutional investors, boosting the index further.
As of 12:54 p.m. on August 20, the KOSPI is trading at 6,875.00, up 403.83 points (6.24%) from the previous trading day.
The index opened at 6,680.34, up 209.17 points (3.23%), and continued to expand its gains, reaching as high as 6,902.46 during the session, quickly recovering from the previous day's losses.
Earlier, at 9:57 a.m., a buying sidecar was triggered in the securities market. The KOSPI 200 futures for the most recent month rose 5.10% from a base price of 1,016.25 to 1,068.15, meeting the criteria for the sidecar activation. When a buying sidecar is triggered, the effectiveness of program trading buy orders is suspended for five minutes from the activation point before being automatically released.
This marks the 24th buying sidecar activation this year. In total, there have been 49 activations in the securities market this year, including 25 for selling and 24 for buying. Since the introduction of the sidecar system, there have been a cumulative total of 109 activations.
On this day, foreign and institutional investors are net buyers, purchasing 1.38 trillion won and 322.1 billion won, respectively. In contrast, individual investors are net sellers, offloading 2.36 trillion won as they realize profits. Unlike the previous day, when foreign and institutional selling led to a sharp decline, today’s buying activity from these groups is driving the index rebound.
Notably, large-cap semiconductor stocks are leading the index's rise.
Samsung Electronics is up 9.09%, SK Hynix is up 13.20%, and SK Square is up 11.45%. Other stocks also seeing gains include Samsung Life (8.33%), Samsung C&T (6.48%), Samsung Biologics (3.43%), Hanwha Aerospace (2.72%), and Hyundai Motor (1.45%). Samsung Electro-Mechanics (0.58%) and LG Energy Solution (0.56%) are also showing slight increases.
SK Hynix continues its upward trend following its announcement after the market closed the previous day that it would buy back and cancel 40 trillion won worth of its own shares over the next three months. This buyback represents about 3.3% of the total number of issued shares. The company has also decided to increase its shareholder return target from within 50% of its free cash flow (FCF) for 2025-2027 to over 50%.
At the same time, the KOSDAQ index is up 17.97 points (2.18%), reaching 842.43. The KOSDAQ opened at 843.99, up 19.53 points (2.37%), and has maintained its upward momentum above the 840 level.
In the KOSDAQ market, individual and institutional investors are net buyers of 29.5 billion won and 80 billion won, respectively, while foreign investors are net sellers of 117.2 billion won.
Among the top market capitalization stocks, Alteogen is up 12.03%, EcoPro is up 2.09%, EcoPro BM is up 3.64%, Rainbow Robotics is up 2.49%, JUSUNG Engineering is up 2.91%, Wonik IPS is up 2.20%, and Rino Technology is up 1.77%, with most stocks showing upward trends.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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