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South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index surged more than 16% on Friday, staging a powerful recovery after one of its sharpest weekly selloffs, as technology heavyweight stocks Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rallied alongside a strong rebound in U.S. markets.
The KOSPI climbed 16.5% to 6,513.45 points by 01:10 GMT after plunging to a low of 5,262.77 earlier this week. The benchmark had fallen nearly 17% over the previous three trading sessions as investors reacted to mounting concerns over increasing competition from Chinese memory chip manufacturers, triggering a broad selloff across semiconductor stocks.
Investor sentiment improved significantly after Wall Street posted strong gains on Thursday, led by Microsoft. The U.S. technology giant reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings, fueled by robust Azure cloud growth that reinforced confidence in artificial intelligence spending and long-term cloud demand. The results eased investor concerns that massive AI infrastructure investments were failing to generate meaningful returns.
The positive momentum quickly spread to Asian markets. Samsung Electronics shares jumped more than 21%, while SK Hynix surged over 26%, helping drive the KOSPI sharply higher.
Both chipmakers had reported strong quarterly results earlier in the week. Samsung announced record quarterly profit, supported by its semiconductor business, and projected a favorable supply-and-demand outlook for memory chips through at least 2027. The company also highlighted an expanding pipeline of long-term customer contracts, reflecting sustained demand for AI-related memory products.
SK Hynix also posted record quarterly revenue, although its profit came in below the market’s elevated expectations.
Despite these solid earnings reports, both stocks had experienced heavy selling earlier in the week as investors locked in profits following a prolonged AI-driven rally. Concerns over stretched valuations, uncertainty surrounding future AI infrastructure spending, and growing competition from Chinese memory chip producers weighed on sentiment, making Friday’s rebound a significant recovery for South Korea’s technology sector.
