[Edaily Reporter Kim Kyung-eun ] The KOSPI and KOSDAQ rebounded by around 2% and 4%, respectively, after overcoming “Black Thursday.” This is believed to be due to a rebound in buying as concerns over funding needs stemming from expanded investment in artificial intelligence (AI) were partially alleviated. The KOSPI turned positive for the first time in eight trading days, and foreign investors returned to net buying for the first time in 10 trading days.

According to MP Doctor on the 16th, the KOSPI closed at 5,668.05, up 113.83 points (2.05%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 5,653.99, up 99.77 points (1.80%) from the previous close, and rose as high as 5,809.94 during the session. However, it pared its gains in the afternoon and closed below the 5,700 level.

In the KOSPI market, foreign investors made net purchases of 341 billion won, returning to a net buying position for the first time in 10 trading days. Foreign investors had been net sellers for eight consecutive trading days from the 2nd through the previous day, selling a total of 18.7786 trillion won during that period. In contrast, institutional and retail investors made net sales of 683.3 billion won and 484.6 billion won, respectively, on this day. Other corporate investors made net purchases of 826.9 billion won.

Most of the top KOSPI stocks by market capitalization rose. SamsungElectronics(005930)closed at 215,500 won, up 5,500 won (2.62%) from the previous trading day. SK hynix(000660)closed at 1,272,000 won, up 10,000 won (0.79%).

In addition, SAMSUNG BIOLOGICS(207940)(4.09%), HyundaiMotor(005380)(5.58%), SAMSUNG C&T CORPORATION(028260)(7.10%), and HANWHA AEROSPACE(012450)(7.77%) also posted gains. On the other hand, SAMSUNG SDI CO.,LTD.(006400)(-1.85%), ShinhanFinancialGroup Co.,Ltd.(055550)(-0.85%), and HD HYUNDAI HEAVY INDUSTRIES(329180)(-0.28%) fell.

The KOSDAQ closed at 794.78, up 33.96 points (4.46%) from the previous trading day. The index opened at 772.17 and rose as high as 807.54 during the session, breaking through the 800-point mark, but gave up some of its gains toward the end of the session.

In the KOSDAQ market, institutional investors were net buyers of 167.5 billion won, while foreign and retail investors were net sellers of 92.9 billion won and 90.5 billion won, respectively.

Most of the top-market-cap stocks on the KOSDAQ also rose. Among them were Alteogen Inc.(196170)(9.60%), ECOPRO CO., LTD(086520)(0.62%), ECOPRO BM CO., LTD.(247540)(0.94%), LEENO Industrial Inc(058470)(5.36%), HPSP Co., Ltd.(403870)(8.74%), PSK INC.(319660)(9.79%), and ISC Co., LTD.(095340)(9.02%).

The KOSDAQ market surged by more than 5% during the session, triggering a temporary suspension of program buy orders (buy-side sidecar). According to the Korea Exchange, at 12:55:23 p.m. that day, the KOSDAQ 150 futures price rose 6.02% and the KOSDAQ 150 index rose 5.65% compared to the previous day, causing program buy orders to be suspended for five minutes. This marks the 34th time a “side car” has been triggered in the KOSDAQ market this year, and the 19th time a “buy-side car” has been activated. This means a “side car” was triggered in the opposite direction just one day after a “sell-side car” and a circuit breaker were triggered in quick succession the previous day.

Analysts attribute the day’s market rebound to remarks by Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA. Recently, the yield on unsecured bonds issued by CoreWeave, a U.S. AI infrastructure company, surged to 15%, highlighting the funding challenges associated with AI infrastructure investments. However, CEO Huang’s assessment that CoreWeave’s financial conditions are improving and its cost of capital is declining helped alleviate some of these concerns.

Kang Jin-hyuk, a senior analyst at Shinhan Investment Securities, said, “As CEO Jensen Huang mentioned the improvement in CoreWeave’s financial soundness and the decline in capital-raising costs, the losses among U.S. AI-related companies narrowed.” He added, “However, since the capital burden associated with AI investments has not been resolved, we must keep a close eye on whether additional funding can be secured and whether these companies can achieve profitability in the future.”