Japan, South Korea Stocks Rally; Nikkei 225 Nears Previous High, Kospi Rises Over 5%, Memory Giants SK Hynix and Kioxia Soar Over 12%

TradingKey - Japanese and South Korean stocks surge 5% in a tsunami-like rally, with Kioxia and SK Hynix both skyrocketing over 12%.

During the Asian trading session on June 25, Japanese and South Korean stock markets opened higher and continued to rally. Among them, the Nikkei 225 Index jumped 4.61%, gaining over 3,000 points, clawing back most of its losses from the previous two days to close at 72,366.12. The KOSPI Index briefly surpassed the 9,000-point mark intraday before pulling back slightly in late trading, ultimately closing up 5.42% at 8,930.31 points.

Nikkei 225 Index chart, Source: TradingView

Among individual stocks, SK Hynix performed the strongest, surging over 13% and briefly nearing the 3 million won mark. SK Hynix's share price peaked intraday at 3.987 million won, hitting a new record high, before closing at 2,917,000 won. Samsung Electronics rose over 5% to close at 358,500 won, with a market capitalization of 1,943.60 trillion won, remaining ahead of SK Hynix's 1,809.70 trillion won.

SK Hynix price chart, Source: TradingView

Following SK Hynix, Japanese memory chip giant Kioxia was reported today to be planning a U.S. listing with American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) as early as the spring of 2027, supporting its share price. This morning, Kioxia's stock opened higher but pared gains; however, the share price rose steadily in the afternoon session on the U.S. listing news, ultimately closing up over 12% at 103,850 won.

Japanese and South Korean stock markets staged a spectacular resurgence today. The primary catalyst was the exceptionally strong earnings report released by U.S. memory giant Micron Technology after the U.S. market close, which, building on Nvidia's momentum, further shattered earlier market anxieties over an 'AI bubble' and 'peaking demand'.