Nikkei 225 Surges 2%, Kospi Opens Lower to Form Base; SK Hynix and Samsung Edge Higher, SoftBank Tumbles 4%

TradingKey - Japanese and South Korean equity markets diverged at the open, with the Nikkei surging 2.05%, the KOSPI opening lower to form a base, and Samsung rising 1.22%.

During Asian trading hours on November 9, following a sharp sell-off last week, Japanese and South Korean stock markets showed a clear divergence and a bottoming-out breathing space at today's open. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rebounded at the open, driven by dip-buying after oversold conditions and bargain-hunting inflows targeting low valuations. Meanwhile, South Korean equities opened slightly lower to absorb selling pressure, still feeling the lingering effects of earlier high-leverage unwinding.

South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index opened down 1.33%, remaining below the 5,000 threshold and temporarily trading at 4,992.5 points; Samsung Electronics rose 1.22% to 191,000 won; SK Hynix gained 0.8% to 1,141,000 won.

KOSPI index chart, Source: TradingView

The Nikkei 225 Index opened higher and continued to climb, surging 2.05% to trade at 58,614.33 points; Kioxia fell 1.09% to 8,418 yen; SoftBank slumped 4.51% to 3,389 yen.

In Friday's U.S. trading, AI bellwether Nvidia (NVDA) demonstrated strong spot buying support, while the Nasdaq and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) halted their declines in tandem, directly defusing the global extreme risk-off alarm that heavily spilled over into the East Asian chip supply chain last week.

However, going forward, investors need to closely watch whether foreign capital shifts from net selling to net buying. Once clear signals emerge that memory chip prices (HBM3e/HBM4 and DRAM) have halted their decline, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics will lead the KOSPI Index in a range-bound recovery rally.