SK hynix fell more than 6% in early trading Thursday, while Samsung Electronics also edged lower.
According to Korea Exchange, SK hynix was trading down 6.0% from the previous session at 1.317 million won ($898) as of 9:34 a.m. The stock opened down 2.86% at 1.361 million won and has since extended its losses.
Samsung Electronics was also trading down 0.2% from the previous session at 208,000 won at the same time. The stock opened up 2.64% at 214,000 won, briefly soared to 217,000 won, then reversed into negative territory.
Samsung Electronics disclosed Thursday that its consolidated operating profit for the second quarter came in at 89.49 trillion won on a preliminary basis, up 1,813.8% from the same period last year. The figure beat the market consensus of 84.19 trillion won compiled by Yonhap Infomax by 6.3%. Both operating profit and sales set all-time quarterly records for the third consecutive quarter.
The DS division, which handles the semiconductor business, also posted record quarterly results, with sales of 127.5 trillion won and operating profit of 89.2 trillion won.
The selloff was triggered Wednesday when SK hynix reported second-quarter earnings that fell short of market expectations, sending both Samsung Electronics and SK hynix down 5.23% and 9.61%, respectively, following the results and a subsequent conference call.
The negative sentiment spilled over into Wall Street overnight, dragging semiconductor stocks sharply lower — Micron fell 10% and SanDisk dropped 7.32% — and sending the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down 5.33%.
The Federal Reserve's decision to hold its benchmark interest rate at 3.50–3.75% while striking a hawkish tone, along with US President Donald Trump's warning of retaliatory strikes against Iran, also weighed on investor sentiment.
Amid the broad decline, foreign and institutional investors were net buyers on the Kospi as of the same time, purchasing 282.4 billion won and 465.9 billion won worth of shares, respectively, while retail investors were the sole net sellers at 768.7 billion won.
yuni@heraldcorp.com
