Nasdaq Hits Record High as Semiconductor Index Rallies in Tandem
The KOSPI returned to positive territory, recovering the 7,000 mark after five trading sessions. The rebound was attributed to the U.S. Nasdaq hitting a record high, along with gains in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (a gauge of the stock performance of leading U.S. semiconductor companies), which also lifted sentiment in the domestic market. On the 2nd, the KOSPI closed at 7,003.74, up 32.39 points (0.46%) from the previous session.
The KOSPI opened at 6,938.27, down 33.08 points (0.47%), and after intraday swings finished in positive territory. In the morning, retail investors, foreigners, and institutions all sold heavily, widening a liquidity gap, but in the afternoon institutions shifted to net buying and pushed the index higher. As of the 3:30 p.m. market close, institutions net bought 381.3 billion won on the main bourse, while foreigners and retail investors net sold 136.7 billion won and 1.7205 trillion won, respectively. Including the after-market session (4–8 p.m.), institutions net bought 415.5 billion won, while foreigners and retail investors were net sellers of 101.1 billion won and 1.7897 trillion won, respectively.
While the Korean market was closed for the substitute holiday for National Foundation Day, all three major U.S. indexes rose on the 5th. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.18% and the S&P 500 rose 0.66%. The Nasdaq climbed 286.45 points (1.05%) to finish at a record high of 27,477.31. Nvidia rose 2.12% to a record closing high, and Meta Platforms (1.90%), Microsoft (1.48%), and Tesla (2.20%) also advanced.
Semiconductor-related stocks also moved. After Toshiba announced it would double its production capacity for hard disk drives for AI data centers by next year and invest $380 million in its Philippine plant, Seagate (4.49%) and Western Digital (6.34%) surged. In contrast, Micron (-1.02%) and SanDisk (-0.92%) declined, and SK hynix's ADR also slipped 0.06%.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced on the 2nd (local time) that U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 29,000 in September from the previous month, below the 84,000 forecast compiled by Dow Jones. According to CME's FedWatch, after the jobs report, the federal funds rate futures market priced in a 17.2% probability of a rate hike in October, down from 64.2% a week earlier.
There are only three trading days on the domestic market this week, with the 5th closed for the substitute holiday for National Foundation Day. The Federal Reserve's September FOMC minutes will be released on the 7th, and Samsung Electronics is scheduled to announce its preliminary Q3 results the same day. Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, "The market is expected to adjust its positions while watching the direction of U.S. interest rates amid key events," and put the expected KOSPI range for the week at 6,800–7,300 points.
