Analysis

TradingKey - In June 2026, South Korean memory giant SK Hynix is accelerating its push into Wall Street. The dominant leader in the global HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) market plans to list on Nasdaq by issuing American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) under the ticker symbol "SKHY," in what will be one of the largest U.S. listings by a foreign company in recent years.

TradingKey - Volkswagen, Europe's largest automaker, is drawing up its most radical restructuring plan in nearly 90 years. According to multiple media reports, the company plans to lay off up to 100,000 employees over the coming years and shut down four of its domestic factories in Germany to cope with the compounding pressures of a slow electrification transition, high costs, and persistently weak demand in the European market. Meanwhile, the group plans to slash its capital expenditures by approximately 15% over the next five years, reducing it to over €130 billion.

Japanese and South Korean stock markets suffered a "Black Friday" as the KOSPI Index and the Nikkei 225 plummeted, erasing yesterday's gains. SoftBank, Kioxia, Samsung Electronics, and SK Hynix plunged in unison.

Despite plans to attend a national conference next week, stock prices for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix failed to rise and instead plummeted by over 9%.

Japanese and South Korean stock markets opened lower and extended losses, with the KOSPI and Nikkei 225 indices falling around 3%, while Kioxia, SK Hynix, and Samsung Electronics plunged collectively.

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

Nvidia and Micron eased chip-sector anxieties, driving sharp gains in Japanese and South Korean stock markets, with AI stocks such as Kioxia, SK Hynix, and Samsung Electronics leading the rally.

TradingKey - On June 24, Seoul time, South Korea postponed the launch of its weekly individual stock options program, originally scheduled for June 29, which includes SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. On the same day, Samsung Electronics stated that it is considering repurchasing approximately 90 trillion won of shares to distribute employee bonuses.

The Nikkei 225 Index extended its losses, while South Korea's KOSPI Index staged a sharp rebound, driven primarily by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

Following Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix is accelerating its ADR process, boosting its stock price and driving an afternoon V-shaped recovery in the KOSPI index.

The South Korean stock market staged a powerful rebound, led by Samsung Electronics, which surged over 7% on news of its share buyback.

TradingKey - In early Asian trading on June 24, Japanese and South Korean stock markets staged a recovery following yesterday's sharp decline. South Korea's KOSPI Index opened at 8,356.79 points, up approximately 1.86% from the previous session's close of 8,203.84 points. As of press time, the KOSPI rose 4.14% to 8,543.68 points. The Nikkei 225 Index opened lower by about 0.31% at 69,615 points; as of press time, the index stood at 69,691.12 points, down 0.18%.

Japanese and South Korean stock markets suffered a "Black Tuesday," as the KOSPI Index, Nikkei 225, Samsung Electronics, and Kioxia all plummeted.

The South Korean stock market triggered its second circuit breaker of June, as Samsung and SK Hynix were also hit by panic selling.

The decline in Japanese and South Korean stock markets at today's open was not driven by deteriorating fundamentals in a single country, but was rather the result of a confluence of multiple headwinds, including the overnight plunge in US tech stocks, sudden shifts in global political and geopolitical situations, and key domestic events in South Korea.

TradingKey - On June 22, Seoul time, Lee Chan-jin, Governor of South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service, publicly stated that authorities are studying special regulatory measures for single-stock leveraged ETFs linked to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. This statement marks the first time regulators have publicly responded to the associated risks through an official press conference hosted by the Governor since the products were listed at the end of May.

TradingKey - During the Asian trading session on June 22, Japanese and South Korean stock markets fell before rebounding. Dragged down by news of a stalemate in US-Iran negotiations over the weekend, both markets opened lower in early trading. However, market sentiment recovered quickly in the afternoon following news that the talks had made substantial progress. The Nikkei 225 Index surpassed 72,000 points for the first time, setting a new intraday record high. South Korea's KOSPI Index erased an early decline of nearly 2% to turn positive, reclaiming the 9,100-point mark.

TradingKey - During the Asian trading session on June 22, SK Hynix rose over 6% at one point to 2.944 million KRW, hitting a new historic high, with its market capitalization surpassing 2,000 trillion KRW. The Hong Kong-listed Southern 2x Long SK Hynix ETF strengthened in tandem, with its intraday gains widening to 18% at one point to reach HKD 190.85. As of press time, SK Hynix shares were trading at 2.906 million KRW, up 5.14%.

TradingKey — According to South Korean media reports, approximately 30 executives and business heads from LG Group are scheduled to arrive today at Nvidia's (NVDA) headquarters in Santa Clara, California, to hold in-depth discussions on cooperation in the fields of physical AI and robotics. This visit comes just two weeks after LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo met with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in Seoul on June 8, signaling that both parties have transitioned from high-level strategic dialogue to the stage of substantive implementation.

TradingKey - During the Asian session on June 22, Japanese and South Korean stock markets both opened lower. The Nikkei 225 opened down 0.26% at 71,067.15 points, while the KOSPI opened at 8,954.43 points, down 97.99 points or approximately 1.1%.