[Good Morning Market] US Closes Mixed... "Korea Expected to Open Higher Led by Semiconductors and AI"

AMD Surges 9.4% in U.S. Market
"Earnings, Foreign Buying, and Liquidity Support Upward Trend"

On October 16, the Korean stock market is expected to open higher, led by semiconductor and AI-related stocks, reflecting the continued optimism for the expansion of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry seen in the U.S. stock market.

On the 15th (local time), the three major U.S. stock indexes closed mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is focused on blue-chip stocks, ended the session at 46,253.31, down 17.15 points (0.04%) from the previous trading day. The S&P 500 Index, which is centered on large-cap stocks, rose 26.75 points (0.4%) to 6,671.06, while the Nasdaq Index, which is focused on technology stocks, gained 148.379 points (0.66%) to close at 22,670.08.

On the 13th (local time), a trader is working at the New York Stock Exchange in the United States. Photo by AFP News Agency

Amid escalating U.S.-China trade tensions and concerns over a prolonged U.S. federal government shutdown (temporary suspension of government work), better-than-expected earnings results from financial firms fueled optimism, driving the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes higher. Morgan Stanley rose 4.72%, Bank of America climbed 4.37%, and JPMorgan increased by 1.2%. Semiconductor company AMD surged 9.4% after Oracle announced it would deploy 50,000 of AMD’s advanced AI chips in its cloud. Oracle rose 1.55%. Nvidia slipped 0.1%.

Regarding the outlook for the Korean stock market on this day, Lee Sunghoon, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, said, “The market is expected to start higher, led by semiconductor and AI-related stocks, as it reflects the continued optimism for AI industry expansion seen in the U.S. stock market.”

He added, “The domestic stock market hit another all-time high the previous day, continuing its upward rally. Recently, customer deposits also reached a record high,” and explained, “Earnings improvement led by semiconductors and continued foreign buying are supporting the market. Liquidity based on increased deposits will also underpin the upward trend in the domestic market for the time being.”

On the same day, Kim Daejun, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, said, “We are revising the upper end of the KOSPI forecast for the next month from 3,500 points to 3,750 points,” and predicted, “The KOSPI, which surged due to large-scale net buying by foreign investors before the holidays, is expected to continue its upward trend based on valuation recovery and improved earnings.”