'Thank you, Jensen Huang' — Kospi surges 2%, eyes 7,000 mark

The Kospi surged more than 2% in early trade Thursday, recovering the 6,900 level, as Nvidia's better-than-expected earnings lifted semiconductor stocks including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.

As of 9:17 a.m., the Kospi was up 143.58 points, or 2.11%, at 6,951.79 compared with the previous session's close.

The index opened 187.91 points, or 2.76%, higher at 6,996.12, briefly approaching the 7,000 threshold in the opening minutes.

On the Kospi market, foreign investors and institutions posted net purchases of 188.5 billion won ($136 million) and 67.1 billion won, respectively, driving the index higher. Retail investors were net sellers of 332.5 billion won.

Wall Street closed slightly lower overnight as investors awaited Nvidia's earnings report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 113.52 points, or 0.21%, to 53,463.88.

The S&P 500 slipped 1.58 points, or 0.02%, to 7,675.70, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged down 21.10 points, or 0.08%, to 26,130.20.

After the close, Nvidia delivered results that topped market expectations.

Nvidia posted revenue of $96.22 billion for the second quarter of fiscal year 2027 (May–July), a 106% increase from the same period a year earlier. The figure beat the market consensus of $92.27 billion compiled by the London Stock Exchange Group and others by about $4 billion.

Data center revenue came in at $89 billion, surpassing the market estimate of $85.8 billion. Earnings per share also beat consensus, rising 119.8% year-on-year to $2.22, well above the $2.09 forecast.

The company's growth outlook also exceeded expectations. Nvidia projected its annual revenue growth rate for fiscal year 2028 at 70%, far above the market estimate of 44.8%.

Nvidia shares jumped more than 4% in after-hours trading. Major semiconductor stocks also rallied, with Micron rising 3.76% and SK hynix's American depositary receipts climbing 4.36%.

Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said Nvidia's results "have improved demand visibility for HBM and DRAM and strengthened memory makers' pricing power, so investor sentiment toward semiconductors — which had been a source of anxiety for some time — is set to enter a recovery phase."

Semiconductor stocks are also leading gains on the domestic market. Samsung Electronics was trading up 2.87% at 269,000 won, while SK hynix advanced 4.44% to 1.76 million won.

Among other large-cap stocks, SK Square rose 2.36%, Samsung Electro-Mechanics gained 2.86% and LG Energy Solution climbed 3.42%. Samsung Life Insurance fell 1.78% and Hyundai Motor slipped 0.49%.

The Kosdaq was up 5.48 points, or 0.66%, at 832.35 at the same time.

On the Kosdaq market, retail investors were net buyers of 33.7 billion won, while foreign investors and institutions were net sellers of 21 billion won and 10.3 billion won, respectively.

Among Kosdaq large-cap stocks, Ecopro rose 2.07%, Ecopro BM gained 1.70%, Wonik IPS advanced 1.37% and EO Technics climbed 1.87%.