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Seoul Stocks Rebound 3.29% as AI Spending Fears Ease, Led by Chip Shares

South Korea's KOSPI rose 3.29% to 5,735.66 as chip shares rebounded on easing AI spending concerns; the KRX briefly activated a buy-side sidecar.

AI News Feed · 2026-10-21 16:41

The rally was sharp enough that the Korea Exchange activated a buy-side sidecar shortly before 11 a.m., suspending program buying for five minutes after KOSPI 200 futures rose more than 5 percent. It was the first such activation in two months.

The rebound followed a nearly 4 percent plunge in the previous session, when renewed worries over massive AI infrastructure spending hit the market. Sentiment improved after better-than-expected earnings from U.S. AI server maker Super Micro Computer helped ease worries about AI-related investments, lifting chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK hynix. Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.02 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite slipped 0.02 percent.

Trading volume was light at 214.35 million shares worth 17.16 trillion won (US$12.96 billion). Decliners outnumbered advancers 487 to 372. Foreigners bought a net 659.96 billion won, while individuals and institutions sold a net 1.13 trillion won and 72.22 billion won, respectively.

"The local market rebounded on bargain hunting after the previous session's sharp sell-off, buoyed by easing concerns over oil prices and interest rates and upbeat earnings from Super Micro," Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said, according to Yonhap.

Market heavyweights rose across the board, led by semiconductor shares. Samsung Electronics rose 5.67 percent to 223,500 won, and SK hynix advanced 5.81 percent to 1.29 million won. SK Corp., the holding company of SK Group, jumped 12.62 percent to 482,000 won, recovering from a nearly 8 percent plunge in the previous session. LS Electric surged 7.02 percent to 166,100 won after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter earnings, driven by robust demand from AI data centers.

LIG D&A plunged 9.03 percent to 498,500 won after South Korea's arms procurement agency barred the defense company from bidding on defense contracts for two years over bribery allegations.

The Korean won was quoted at 1,325.2 won against the U.S. dollar as of 3:30 p.m., up 0.8 won from the previous session's close. Bond prices closed higher. The yield on three-year Treasurys lost 1.8 basis points to 3.822 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds went down 2.5 points to 3.965 percent.