Buy-side sidecar triggered as Kospi surges on semiconductor rebound

The Kospi, which had fallen for three consecutive sessions, staged a sharp rebound Tuesday, led by large-cap semiconductor stocks, briefly reclaiming the 5,300 level during intraday trading.

Kosdaq also rose in tandem, with buy-side sidecars triggered on both markets.

According to Korea Exchange, the Kospi stood at 5,281.13 as of 9:20 a.m., up 262.28 points, or 5.23 percent, from Monday. The index opened 228.37 points, or 4.55 percent, higher at 5,247.22 and has continued to climb, touching an intraday high of 5,300.92 in early trade.

Individual investors were net selling 230.4 billion won ($170 million), while foreign and institutional investors were net buying 35.3 billion won and 176.6 billion won, respectively.

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are leading the index higher with steep gains. Samsung Electronics briefly reclaimed the 200,000-won threshold in early trade, while SK hynix broke back above the 1.23 million-won level.

Samsung Electronics was trading up 5.45 percent at 200,250 won, while SK hynix surged 8.36 percent to 1,231,000 won. Samsung Electronics preferred shares rose 6.43 percent, SK Square gained 7.76 percent and LG Energy Solution added 2.67 percent.

The gains follow a broad overnight rally on Wall Street, where bargain buying concentrated in technology stocks and a sharp drop in crude oil prices lifted all three major indexes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.15 percent, while the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite gained 2.35 percent and 2.74 percent, respectively.

Bargain hunters moved into semiconductor stocks, which had recently sold off sharply, driving the broader advance.

AMD surged 13.26 percent, Broadcom climbed 8.78 percent and Marvell Technology jumped 9.49 percent, while Micron Technology gained 6.25 percent and SK hynix's American depositary receipts rose 5.53 percent.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which had plunged more than 12 percent on Thursday alone, rebounded 6.86 percent — nearly 7 percent.

Nvidia, however, fell 4.27 percent amid a personal scandal involving CEO Jensen Huang.

A sharp drop in crude oil prices also supported the equity rally. West Texas Intermediate futures settled down 4.38 percent at $86.85 per barrel, while Brent crude futures tumbled 5.85 percent to $92.57 per barrel.

The moves came after US President Donald Trump said the likelihood of a large-scale additional strike on Iran was very low, raising expectations for an easing of military tensions in the Middle East.

At the same time, Kosdaq was up 30.19 points, or 4.72 percent, at 669.16.

On the Kosdaq, individual and institutional investors were net buying 31.4 billion won and 32.9 billion won, respectively, while foreign investors were net selling 60.1 billion won.

Most large-cap Kosdaq names were also in positive territory, including Alteogen, up 7.01 percent; Ecopro, up 6.11 percent; Ecopro BM, up 4.35 percent; Jusung Engineering, up 8.26 percent; and Rainbow Robotics, up 5.45 percent.

Seo Sang-young, a managing director at Mirae Asset Securities, said the strong overnight gain in KOSPI 200 night futures pointed to a high likelihood of a sharp early-session rebound. "The significant drop in crude oil prices, driven by easing concerns over a US-Iran conflict, will also have a positive effect on investor sentiment," Seo added.

Seo noted that caution remained warranted ahead of the US consumer price index release and CoreWeave's closely watched earnings announcement, but said the market was expected to hold firm. "After a strong early-session rise, the market will need to absorb some selling pressure, but the underlying trend should remain solid," Seo said.