Seoul stocks rebound as Anthropic IPO revives AI investment sentiment
Summary
Korean stocks rebounded in Seoul Tuesday as news of Anthropic’s planned IPO lifted investor appetite and semiconductor shares. The KOSPI closed at 5,638.34, up 3.09 percent, while the Kosdaq gained 2.29 percent to 743.83. SK hynix and Samsung Electronics rose 5.18 percent and 4.23 percent, respectively. Investors faced a busy calendar of company earnings, policy events and the U.S. midterm elections.
Key Facts
- The KOSPI opened at 5,658.65, up 3.46 percent from its previous close, and a buy-sidecar suspended program buy orders for five minutes at 10:13 a.m.
- Foreign investors were net buyers of 835.9 billion won, and institutions bought a net 418.5 billion won; retail investors sold a net 1.4 trillion won.
- Anthropic filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed IPO seeking to raise as much as $100 billion.
- SK hynix shares closed at 1.34 million won, while Samsung Electronics shares closed at 222,000 won.
- The won weakened 0.6 won against the U.S. dollar to close at 1,323.7 won.
A stock ticker at Hana Bank's headquarters in Seoul shows the benchmark KOSPI closing at 5,638.34, up 3.09 percent from the previous close, Wednesday. Yonhap
Korean stocks rebounded Tuesday, led by gains in the country’s semiconductor heavyweights, as news of U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic’s planned blockbuster initial public offering (IPO) revived investor appetite after a recent pullback.
The benchmark KOSPI opened at 5,658.65, up 3.46 percent from the previous close, according to the Korea Exchange. A buy-sidecar was triggered early in the session at 10:13 a.m., temporarily suspending program buy orders for five minutes after the market’s surge breached the volatility threshold.
The index remained in positive territory throughout the session, closing at 5,638.34, up 3.09 percent.
Foreign investors and institutions were net buyers of 835.9 billion won ($631.05 million) and 418.5 billion won, respectively, while retail investors sold a net 1. 4 trillion won.
The rebound followed reports that Anthropic, the developer behind the Claude AI chatbot, had filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed IPO. The AI giant is seeking to raise as much as $100 billion, which would make it the biggest ever public offering on Wall Street.
The news, which helped ease recent concerns over the profitability of the industry, lifted shares of Korea’s semiconductor heavyweights. SK hynix rose 5.18 percent to 1.34 million won, while Samsung Electronics gained 4.23 percent to close at 222,000 won.
Still, investors face a packed calendar of earnings reports and policy events that could determine whether the rebound gains momentum.
“Major events are lined up in the coming days, including SK hynix’s preliminary earnings report on Wednesday, Samsung Electronics’ final third-quarter results and shareholder return plans on Thursday, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and earnings from Microsoft and Alphabet early Thursday, Amazon’s results early Friday, as well as the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 3,” said Lee Jae-won, an analyst at Yuanta Securities.
The secondary bourse Kosdaq opened 2.18 percent higher at 743.09 before closing at 743.83, up 2.29 percent.
In the Seoul foreign exchange market, the won weakened 0.6 won against the U.S. dollar to close at 1,323.7 won.
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