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South Korea’s KOSPI was heading for its strongest weekly performance since early June on Friday, fueled by a powerful rebound in technology and semiconductor stocks as optimism around artificial intelligence demand returned to global markets.
The benchmark KOSPI index climbed 2.3% to 6,967.32 by 06:20 GMT, after briefly breaking above the 7,000 level and rising as much as 3% during the session. The advance put the South Korean stock market on course to snap a seven-week losing streak.
Semiconductor heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix were among the biggest drivers of the KOSPI rally. Both chipmakers had suffered significant losses during the previous month’s technology-sector selloff but have since staged strong recoveries.
Samsung Electronics was on track to gain more than 18% for the week, while SK Hynix was poised for a weekly increase of around 12%. The sharp gains reflected renewed investor confidence in semiconductor and AI-related stocks following concerns that had previously weighed on the sector.
The KOSPI has now rebounded more than 20% from its July 30 low, placing the index in technical bull market territory. The recovery follows a steep July decline that was driven by concerns over the sustainability of artificial intelligence investment and the forced unwinding of leveraged market positions.
Improving conditions in the United States also helped strengthen investor sentiment. Softer U.S. inflation data eased fears that the Federal Reserve could move toward another interest rate hike, providing additional support for risk assets and technology shares.
With Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix leading the recovery, South Korean equities have regained significant momentum. Investors are likely to continue monitoring global AI spending, semiconductor demand and U.S. monetary policy for signals on whether the KOSPI rally can extend beyond its latest weekly rebound.
