[Edaily Reporter kyoungeun kim ] On the 10th, the KOSPI closed up more than 2% as market optimism spread to most stocks, driven by a recovery in investor sentiment toward artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors and buying by institutional investors.

Although the market showed such strong upward momentum during the session that the intraday buy-side circuit breaker was triggered, the index’s gains were limited as the rally in semiconductor stocks slowed.

The KOSDAQ market recovered to the 830 level, driven by a 5% rebound in buying momentum just three trading days after falling below the 800 mark.

According to MP Doctor, the KOSPI closed at 7,475.94, up 184.03 points (2.52%) from the previous trading day. The index showed strength, briefly surging to 7,704.93 during the session, but later gave up those gains.

According to the Korea Exchange, at 12:54 p.m., the KOSPI 200 futures price rose 5.13% from the reference price to 1,240.15 points and remained at that level for one minute, triggering a buy-side circuit breaker. This marks the 17th time a buy-side circuit breaker has been triggered this year. Considering the 17 instances of sell-side circuit breakers, there have been a total of 34 market interventions so far this year.

Institutions were by far the dominant force in market supply and demand that day. In the stock market, institutions led the index higher with net purchases of 1.1319 trillion won, driven primarily by financial investment firms (1.1193 trillion won).

In contrast, retail investors and foreign investors showed net selling of 772.8 billion won and 329.9 billion won, respectively.

With six stocks hitting their daily upper price limit, 802 stocks rising, and 92 stocks falling, more than 90% of listed stocks showed a bullish trend.

Kang Jin-hyuk, a senior researcher at Shinhan Investment Securities, said, “Supply and demand have returned,” adding, “More than 90% of stocks on both the KOSPI and KOSDAQ showed a bullish trend.”

Furthermore, it is assessed that market skepticism regarding concerns over a semiconductor peak-out has been dispelled. “As AI cycle-related noise subsided following a series of investment announcements—such as Meta’s—which had previously raised doubts about capital expenditures (CapEx), rebound buying pressure flowed into the market,” he said. “The news that Meta will begin mass-producing its own AI chips in September to secure 14 gigawatts (GW) of computing power next year demonstrates that the profitability of the computing power leasing business stems from shortages rather than excess capacity.”

Most of the top market-cap stocks closed sharply higher. Among the top 10 stocks by market capitalization, with the exception of SK hynix, SKSQUARE(402340)(+6.18%), SamsungElectroMechanics(009150)(+6.10%), KB Financial Group(105560)(+7.58%), SAMSUNG BIOLOGICS(207940)(+5.28%), Samsung Life Insurance(032830)(+4.45%), LG Energy Solution(373220)(+3.99%), SamsungElectronics(1P)(005935)(+4.69%), SamsungElectronics(005930)(+2.52%), and HyundaiMotor(005380)(+2.69%) all closed higher.

SK hynix(000660), which had been the focus of market expectations that day, surged by over 5% during the session after the offering price for its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) was set approximately 3% higher than the price of its underlying shares. However, it ultimately closed down 0.27% due to a “sell-on” reaction as the positive news lost its momentum.

The KOSDAQ index closed at 837.43, up 43.43 points (5.47%), regaining the 800-point level for the first time in three trading days.

In the KOSDAQ market as well, institutions led the market with net purchases of 582.6 billion won. In contrast, retail investors and foreign investors were net sellers, offloading 424.6 billion won and 160.2 billion won, respectively.

The top-market-cap stocks on the KOSDAQ closed higher. PSK INC.(319660)(+24.44%), WONIK IPS Co.,Ltd.(240810)(+19.16%), ECOPRO BM CO., LTD.(247540)(+9.06%), Alteogen Inc.(196170)(+8.00%), ECOPRO CO., LTD(086520)(+8.06%), JUSUNG ENGINEERING Co.,Ltd.(036930)(+7.57%), Rainbow Robotics(277810)(+5.22%), LEENO Industrial Inc(058470)(+5.43%), and Kolon TissueGene, Inc.(950160)(+3.09%) all rose.

In contrast, HLB INC.(028300)closed down 29.89% following news that its new liver cancer drug had failed to secure approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

By sector, telecommunications equipment surged by more than 10%, while handsets, healthcare technology, construction, and electrical equipment rose by 6–7%. Conversely, diversified telecommunications services (-6.51%), credit cards (-6.38%), and healthcare equipment and supplies (-3.35%) closed lower.