Analysis

TradingKey - Seoul, June 8: South Korean stocks plunged in early Monday trading as concerns over U.S. rate hikes and a global tech sell-off spread. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plummeted more than 8% at one point, triggering Level 1 circuit breakers. Meanwhile, NVIDIA (NVDA), SK Hynix, and SK Telecom announced several AI-related collaborations covering data centers, memory chips, and semiconductor manufacturing.

TradingKey - Japanese and South Korean stock markets opened sharply lower on Monday (June 8), extending the panic from last week’s overnight plunge in U.S. tech stocks. The Nikkei 225 opened down 0.9% before losses widened rapidly, falling nearly 4% intraday to a low of 63,987 points, eventually rebounding after breaking below the 64,000 psychological level.

TradingKey - During the Asian session on the morning of June 8, South Korea's KOSPI Index saw its opening losses widen to 8.37%, falling below the 7,500-point integer mark. The Korea Exchange announced a 20-minute trading suspension as the KOSPI's plunge triggered circuit breakers. Heavyweight stocks collapsed across the board, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both falling 10% intraday, leading the market lower.

TradingKey - On the afternoon of June 5 (Seoul time), NVIDIA (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang arrived at Seoul Gimpo International Airport from Taiwan. Immediately upon landing, he shared a significant prediction with the media and public, stating that robotics will become South Korea's next major industry.

TradingKey - During the Asian trading session on June 5, global AI and semiconductor sectors faced selling pressure as Broadcom's (AVGO) AI business earnings guidance fell short of expectations. Panic sentiment quickly spread to Asia-Pacific markets, with both Japanese and South Korean stock markets declining.

TradingKey — During the Asia trading session on June 5, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) saw its decline rapidly widen to over 6%. The Korea Exchange triggered a circuit breaker mechanism for the KOSPI after KOSPI 200 futures fell by 5%, suspending program trading for five minutes.

TradingKey - During the Asian trading session on June 4, SoftBank Group’s share price plunged over 11%, marking its largest single-day decline in months. The tech investment giant is facing renewed market scrutiny over its highly leveraged AI betting strategy, while an overnight broad sell-off in U.S. tech stocks accelerated the adjustment.

TradingKey - During the Asian session on June 4, Japanese and South Korean equity markets failed to sustain their previous momentum, as both major indices trended lower across the board. The Nikkei 225 Index fell 1.36% to close at 67,470.47 points. South Korea’s KOSPI Index opened with a gap down, with intraday losses exceeding 2% at one point, before eventually closing down 1.84% at 8,639.41 points.

TradingKey – June 2: SoftBank Group is in advanced talks to invest an additional US$300 million in German industrial robotics firm Agile Robots. This funding round is expected to total approximately US$800 million, which will be used for capacity expansion and global market development.

TradingKey - During the Asian session on June 3, the Nikkei 225 Index rose over 2%, driven by the AI boom, to surpass the 68,000-point psychological level for the first time in history. South Korean stock markets were closed for the day due to local elections.

TradingKey - Samsung Electronics showcased its eighth-generation High Bandwidth Memory (HBM5) prototype for the first time at Computex 2026 and announced that it has delivered 12-layer HBM4E samples to customers. SK Hynix unveiled its differentiated heat dissipation technology "iHBM" on the eve of the event, with mass production of HBM5 expected between 2029 and 2030. Micron Technology (MU) is also accelerating its catch-up efforts. The competition is evolving from a race for speed into a contest of heat dissipation and packaging capabilities, where the choice of Nvidia (NVDA), the primary customer, remains decisive.

TradingKey - Since listing in Tokyo in December 2024, Kioxia Holdings has taken one and a half years to leap from its IPO to Japan's top three companies by market capitalization. As of the Asian trading session on June 3, Kioxia's Japanese shares saw year-to-date gains reach as high as 660%, topping the leaderboard for annual gains among global semiconductor manufacturers.

TradingKey — According to media reports on June 2, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won issued several major signals at the GTC conference in Taipei. He explicitly stated that SK Hynix plans to double its memory chip wafer capacity within the next five years, with the goal of becoming the primary HBM chip supplier for Nvidia’s next-generation AI computing platform, the Vera Rubin system. Furthermore, the company aims to further expand its diversified partnerships in Taiwan.

TradingKey - Japanese and South Korean stock markets closed mixed on Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 Index finished 0.30% lower at 66,734.02, while the KOSPI rose 0.15% to close at 8,801.49.

TradingKey - During the Asia trading session on June 2, Samsung Electronics' intraday market capitalization briefly exceeded $1.54 trillion, momentarily surpassing Meta Platforms (META) and Tesla (TSLA) to rank ninth globally before retracing. As of afternoon trading, Samsung's market cap stood at a

TradingKey - A fire broke out at South Korean semiconductor giant SK Hynix's core chip manufacturing facility at Campus 4 in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, at approximately 10:32 AM local time on June 1, accompanied by a minor leakage of hydrofluoric acid. The fire originated on the 6th floor of a gas room connecting the M15 and M15X production facilities and was quickly brought under control after the automatic sprinkler system was activated.

TradingKey - During the Asian trading session on June 2, led by the continued gains of chip giants SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, the total market capitalization of South Korean listed companies surpassed the $5 trillion mark, officially overtaking India’s $4.8 trillion to become the world’s sixth-largest stock market for the first time since 2003.

TradingKey - Janus Henderson’s $8.3 billion Global Technology Leaders Fund plans to add South Korean memory chip giant SK Hynix to its portfolio, following a cumulative surge of over 1,000% in the company’s stock price over the past year. The fund has outperformed 96% of its peers this year, delivering a three-year cumulative return of 36%. It currently holds positions in memory industry leaders such as Micron Technology (MU) and SanDisk (SNDK).

TradingKey - According to the latest reports from Bloomberg, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo is scheduled to hold a high-level meeting with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on June 5. The two parties will focus on deep cooperation in the field of Physical AI. Driven by this news, LG Electronics' stock price hit the 30% daily limit-up for two consecutive trading days. Its cumulative year-to-date gain has exceeded 300%, with its market capitalization reaching a record high.

TradingKey - On the first trading day of June, Japanese and South Korean stock markets extended the AI boom, both hitting record highs. The Nikkei 225 Index surpassed 67,000 points for the first time intraday, while the KOSPI Index briefly broke through the 8,800-point mark.