Overview
- The Kospi moved into technical bull‑market territory on Thursday, August 13, rising more than 20% from its July 30 low after a multi‑day surge led by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
- Media reports that Singapore’s Temasek plans direct investments in the two chipmakers helped accelerate demand, though Temasek has not publicly confirmed the plan.
- The rebound has been reinforced by upbeat US AI‑infrastructure earnings, which revived expectations that hyperscalers will sustain strong memory‑chip buying for AI servers.
- July’s crash was driven by forced liquidations of leveraged positions, prompting Korean regulators and brokerages to tighten margin rules and curb single‑stock leveraged ETFs to reduce repeat forced selling.
- Key near‑term watch points are SK Hynix’s confirmed third‑quarter shareholder‑return details and expected Samsung shareholder actions, plus any signs from hyperscalers’ capex guidance that would either validate or quickly reverse AI‑led demand assumptions.