Business & Markets
South Korea Kospi closes up record 17.9%
South Korea's Kospi closed up a record 17.9% at 6,595.45 on Friday as Asian technology shares rebounded from a weeks-long sell-off linked to concerns over artificial intelligence spending.
Chipmaker SK hynix rose 30%, wiping out its losses from the previous two days, after confirmation that Chey Tae-won, chair of parent company SK Group, had bought about $3 million of shares in a personal capacity. Samsung Electronics rose almost 27%.
The rally followed strong earnings from US technology companies including Microsoft and Amazon, whose shares rose on Wall Street and helped the Nasdaq gain almost 3%.
South Korea's government also planned to put almost $14 billion into its sovereign wealth fund for AI investments and data centres. Officials had earlier pledged measures to limit retail traders' access to leveraged exchange-traded funds, including limits on individual investment in them. Those funds had been partly blamed for recent panic selling.
Ryu Hyung-keun of Daishin Securities told AFP investors had become increasingly sceptical about how much further memory chip prices could rise, but said Chey's purchase of SK hynix shares had been interpreted by investors as a positive signal.
The rebound spread across parts of Asia. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 closed up 4.0%, with Advantest up 16%, Kioxia up 18% and SoftBank up 14%. Taipei rose 8% as TSMC gained 10%. Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta also rose. London, Paris and Frankfurt advanced at the open.
The yen held gains against the dollar a day after rallying amid speculation that Japanese authorities had intervened to support the currency, which had been around 40-year lows.
Oil prices extended Thursday's decline amid easing Middle East tensions. Hamas said it had agreed to a deal announced by US President Donald Trump to end the war with Israel, including Hamas handing over its weapons to a Palestinian governing committee and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Update
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed up 0.1% at 25,884.43.
London's FTSE 100 was up 0.8% at 10,978.63 around 0810 GMT.
West Texas Intermediate was down 1.2% at $82.61 a barrel and Brent crude was down 0.9% at $88.24 a barrel around 0810 GMT.
Source note: AFP news report published on 31 July 2026 at 08:23:31 UTC.
Update
South Korea's Kospi closed up a record 17.9% at 6,595.45 on Friday.
SK hynix rose 30%, while Samsung Electronics rose almost 27%.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 closed up 4.0%, Taipei rose 8%, and TSMC rose 10%.
London, Paris and Frankfurt rose at the open, while Hong Kong and Singapore posted small losses.
Oil prices fell about 2%, and the yen held part of Thursday's gains against the dollar.
Source note: AFP news report published on 31 July 2026 at 07:42:18 UTC.
Update
The Kospi was listed up 13.9 percent at 6,368.53 around 0210 GMT.
SK hynix rose 27 percent at one point.
Samsung Electronics rose more than 20 percent.
South Korea's government planned to put almost $14 billion into its sovereign wealth fund for AI investments and data centres.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 5.1 percent, while Taipei rose more than seven percent.
Source note: AFP news report published on 31 July 2026 at 03:16:06 UTC.
Update
Regulators have expressed regret over approving single-stock leveraged ETFs tied to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.
Access to the leveraged ETFs has been restricted to cash buyers with a minimum 30 million won deposit.
Analyst Ryu Hyung-keun said SK hynix's decline over the past month was likely driven partly by ETF-linked selling rather than weaker fundamentals.
Ryu said investors interpreted SK Group chair Chey Tae-won's share purchase as a positive signal.
Source note: AFP news report published on 31 July 2026 at 01:26:26 UTC.
Update
Tokyo's Nikkei index was up more than 5% in early trade.
SK hynix had fallen nearly 20% after a 14% loss a day earlier, leaving its stock value about half its record highs from last month.
Samsung fell more than 12% on Wednesday.
Source note: AFP news report published on 31 July 2026 at 00:57:56 UTC.
Update
Chey Tae-won, chair of SK Group, bought about $3 million worth of shares, described as his first purchases in a personal capacity.
Tokyo's Nikkei index was up 3.5% at 64,007 points.
Source note: AFP news report published on 31 July 2026 at 00:31:08 UTC.
Update
South Korean stocks rebounded 13%.
SK hynix was up 20%.
Source note: AFP news report published on 31 July 2026 at 00:20:23 UTC.
Update
South Korea's Kospi rebounded Thursday after two days of losses, trading up 2.5% around 0250 GMT after rising more than 5% earlier in morning trade.
Samsung reported a 1,813% rise in second-quarter operating profit, with revenue up 130% and net profit up 1,300%.
Samsung shares rose more than 6% after falling 16% over Tuesday and Wednesday, while SK hynix was flat after a 20% two-day fall.
South Korea's government pledged measures to curb retail traders' access to leveraged exchange-traded funds, including limits on individual investment.
Asian markets were mixed, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Taipei and Jakarta higher while Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Wellington and Manila fell.
Oil prices slipped Thursday but held much of Wednesday's rise after new Middle East tensions.
The Federal Reserve held rates, with three policymakers dissenting in favour of a hike.
Source note: AFP news report published on 30 July 2026 at 03:06:39 UTC.
Update
The Kospi closed 6.0% lower at 5,663.24 after falling more than 12% during the session.
SK hynix and Samsung had halved their earlier losses by the end of trading.
Tokyo, Taipei and several European markets also moved, while Hong Kong and several other Asian markets gained.
Oil prices rose after US and Saudi strikes in Iraq and Iran said it had halted three oil tankers in the strait.
Investors were watching the Federal Reserve's decision later Wednesday.
Source note: AFP news report published on 29 July 2026 at 08:17:23 UTC.
Update
The Kospi fell more than 12% at one point and was down 11.4% around 0445 GMT.
SK hynix shed almost 20% and has lost more than 50% since a record high a month ago.
Samsung fell more than 12%.
Tokyo, Taipei and several major chip stocks also fell, while Hong Kong and some other Asian markets rose.
SK hynix supplies high-bandwidth memory chips to Nvidia, and Samsung is due to report earnings Thursday.
Source note: AFP news report published on 29 July 2026 at 05:16:14 UTC.
Update
The Kospi fell 11.4% to 5,338.56.
SK hynix shares were down 18%.
Samsung shares were down 12.5%.
The Wednesday selloff followed an almost 11% fall in the Kospi on Tuesday.
Source note: AFP news report published on 29 July 2026 at 04:25:13 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The reported possible Japanese intervention to support the yen was described as speculation.
The Middle East deal cited in the market context was described as agreed to by Hamas, but the supplied material does not establish implementation.
Source
AFP news report published on .