KOSPI erased concerns over the sustainability and profitability of AI (artificial intelligence) investments, surging more than 1000 points in a single day to record its highest-ever gain rate. Various new records were set across indices, individual stocks, and capital flows. With major U.S. hedge funds liquidating positions, deleveraging (financial stabilization through debt repayment) is also nearing completion, leading securities firms to predict that the previously tangled supply-demand dynamics will normalize. Once the earnings of remaining major U.S. tech companies are confirmed, August is expected to continue its upward trend steadily.
On the 31st, KOSPI closed at 6595.45, up 1001 points (17.91%) from the previous trading day, marking the highest gain rate and point increase in history. The previous record for gain rate was 11.95% set on October 30, 2008, while the record for point increase was 612.52 points set on the 9th of last month.
KOSPI opened at 5657.79, up 64.23 points (1.15%), but surged into double-digit gains immediately after the volatility mitigation device (VI) was lifted for top market capitalization stocks. At one point during the session, KOSPI rose more than 18%, reaching as high as 6630.77.
KOSPI started this month at 8476, fell to the 5590th range, and closed in the 6590s. On a monthly basis for July, KOSPI’s decline rate was -22.0%, ranking third all-time. Until the 30th, it had been first all-time at -34.0%, but today’s rebound significantly recovered the drop.
Kiwoom Securities researcher Han Ji-young stated, “KOSPI remains in an oversold area with excessive declines,” and added, “It is important to note that overall KOSPI earnings confidence is recovering through the earnings of hyperscalers, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and other key sectors.”
The securities industry anticipated that the semiconductor supply-demand issue, which was the main culprit behind KOSPI’s decline, would be resolved following the liquidation of the U.S. hedge fund Situational Awareness Capital Fund. Led by Leopold Aschenbrenner, a former OpenAI executive, this fund had made large-scale investments in AI and semiconductor stocks using four times leverage. However, as stock prices continued to fall recently, margin call pressures mounted, and it is reported that Citadel, a global hedge fund, acquired most of these portfolios.
KB Securities researchers Im Jeong-eun and Tae Yoon-seon explained, “The vertical rebound centered on semiconductors was driven by expectations for deleveraging resolution following Citadel’s acquisition of its leveraged hedge fund portfolio and the spread of recognition that stocks were oversold.” They added, “Next month, earnings from major companies such as Palantir, AMD, and SanDisk remain to be confirmed, along with the release of the U.S. July non-farm employment data on the 7th. With supply-demand instability factors subsiding and upside materials dominating the market, we expect to enter a phase of consolidating at the bottom.”
On this day in the KOSPI market (based on KRX·Korea Exchange), foreign investors recorded their largest-ever net purchases, while domestic retail investors recorded their largest-ever net sales. Foreign net purchases totaled 7.2196 trillion won, and domestic net sales reached 8.2543 trillion won. Of the foreign net purchases, 3.6086 trillion won were in SK Hynix and 2.1168 trillion won in Samsung Electronics. Institutional investors made net purchases of 1.1782 trillion won. The previous record for foreign net purchases was 3.14 trillion won on October 2, 2025, and the previous record for domestic net sales was 5.4161 trillion won on April 8, 2026.
By sector, electricity and electronics rose over 26%, manufacturing over 21%, healthcare and precision instruments over 16%, machinery and equipment over 12%, securities over 11%, distribution and construction over 10%, insurance and finance over 9%, transportation equipment and parts over 7%, metals over 6%, electricity and gas, IT services over 4%, transportation and warehousing, general services over 3%, entertainment and culture, non-ferrous metals, textiles and apparel over 2%, and chemicals, paper and wood over 1%. Real estate was roughly flat, pharmaceuticals rose over 1%, and food and tobacco fell over 2%.
Among top market capitalization stocks, SK Hynix, Samsung Electric, and SK Square closed at their upper limits. Samsung Electronics rose over 26%, Samsung C&T over 19%, Samsung Life over 17%, Hyundai Motor over 10%, Kia over 9%, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries over 7%, Hanwha Aerospace over 6%, and LG Energy Solution over 2%. KB Financial was roughly flat, Shinhan Financial Group was slightly down, and Samsung Bioepis fell over 2%. On this day, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix shattered records for highest gain rate and point increase.
KOSDAQ closed at 719.76, up 74.98 points (11.63%) from the previous trading day, ranking second all-time in gain rate. The previous record was 11.47% on October 30, 2008.
In the KOSDAQ market, foreign investors made net purchases of 172.9 billion won, institutional investors purchased 296.1 billion won net, and domestic retail investors sold 468.7 billion won net.
All sectors in the KOSDAQ market were strong. Machinery and equipment rose over 19%, electricity and electronics over 15%, non-ferrous metals over 14%, manufacturing over 13%, healthcare and precision instruments, finance, and chemicals over 10%, general services, metals, transportation equipment and parts, and distribution over 9%, construction and IT services over 6%, pharmaceuticals over 5%, transportation and warehousing, textiles and apparel, and other manufacturing over 4%, paper and wood, publishing and media reproduction, telecommunications, and entertainment and culture over 3%, and food and tobacco over 2%.
Among top market capitalization stocks, Wonik IPS and PSK rose over 27%, Juseong Engineering over 26%, IOTech over 23%, Rino Industrial and Rainbow Robotics over 16%, Samtong Pharmaceutical over 15%, LG Chem Bio and EcoPro over 12%, Altogen over 10%, ABLE Bio over 9%, EcoPro BM over 7%, and HLB over 2%. Pharmascience fell over 2%.
As of 3:30 p.m. today, the won/dollar exchange rate in Seoul’s foreign exchange market stood at 1424.0 won, down 13.4 won from the same time yesterday.
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