South Korean Stocks Retreat After Rally, KOSPI Barely Holds 7,000 as SK Hynix Turns Lower

TradingKey - South Korean stocks opened higher but moved lower to close up a slight 0.15%; Samsung gained less than 1%, while SK Hynix fell 1.5%.

During Asian trading on September 22, Japanese markets were closed while South Korean stocks rallied before pulling back. The KOSPI Index opened significantly higher in early trading before steadily declining, giving back nearly all of its intraday gains to close marginally up 0.15% at 7,017.91 points, barely holding the 7,000 mark.

The two heavyweights moved downward together, but ultimately closed mixed. Samsung Electronics continued to fall during intraday trading before rebounding late in the session to close up 0.91% at 276,500 KRW, failing to hold the 280,000 level; SK Hynix reversed gains to drop 1.5%, failing to defend the 1.9 million mark to finish at 1,840,000 KRW.

KOSPI Index chart, Source: TradingView

Overnight U.S. stocks moved significantly higher led by artificial intelligence (AI)-related giants and semiconductor shares, prompting South Korea's two leading chipmakers, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, to open sharply higher in early trading, with gains briefly exceeding 3%. However, as the KOSPI Index surged above the key 7,100 level, strong profit-taking pressure emerged from investors. In addition, escalating risk aversion ahead of the Chuseok holiday and a weak appetite to chase higher prices caused the index to retreat steadily from its highs.