Seoul stocks rebound as Anthropic IPO revives AI investment sentiment
Summary
South Korean stocks rose in Seoul on Tuesday after news of Anthropic’s planned initial public offering (IPO) boosted investor interest and lifted semiconductor shares. The KOSPI closed at 5,638.34, up 3.09 percent, while the Kosdaq rose 2.29 percent to 743.83. SK hynix and Samsung Electronics gained 5.18 percent and 4.23 percent, respectively. Investors also faced a busy schedule of company earnings reports, 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. At 10:13 a.m., a buy-sidecar temporarily stopped program buy orders for five minutes.
- Foreign investors bought 835.9 billion won more in stocks than they sold, while institutions bought a net 418.5 billion won. Individual investors sold a net 1.4 trillion won.
- Anthropic filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a planned IPO that aims 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 fell by 0.6 won against the U.S. dollar to close at 1,323.7 won.
- Published KST
- Updated KST
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
South Korean stocks rose on Tuesday, led by gains in the country's biggest semiconductor companies. News that U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic plans a huge initial public offering (IPO) renewed investor interest after stocks had recently fallen.
The main KOSPI index opened at 5,658.65, up 3.46 percent from its previous close, according to the Korea Exchange. At 10:13 a.m., a buy-sidecar was triggered, temporarily stopping program buy orders for five minutes. This happened because the sharp rise in the market passed a set limit for price changes.
The index stayed above its previous closing level throughout the day and finished at 5,638.34, up 3.09 percent.
Foreign investors bought 835.9 billion won ($631.05 million) more in stocks than they sold. Institutions also bought a net 418.5 billion won, while individual investors sold a net 1.4 trillion won.
The rise followed reports that Anthropic, the company that developed the Claude AI chatbot, had filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a planned IPO. The AI company aims to raise as much as $100 billion. If successful, this would be the biggest public stock offering ever on Wall Street.
The news helped ease recent worries about whether AI companies can make enough money. It also lifted shares in South Korea's biggest semiconductor companies. SK hynix rose 5.18 percent to 1.34 million won, while Samsung Electronics gained 4.23 percent to close at 222,000 won.
However, investors face a busy schedule of company earnings reports and policy events that could decide whether the stock-market recovery continues to grow.
“Several major events are coming up in the next few days. They include SK hynix's preliminary earnings report on Wednesday; Samsung Electronics' final third-quarter results and plans for returning money to shareholders on Thursday; the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and earnings reports from Microsoft and Alphabet early Thursday; Amazon's results early Friday; and the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 3,” said Lee Jae-won, an analyst at Yuanta Securities.
The Kosdaq, South Korea's secondary stock market, opened at 743.09, up 2.18 percent. It closed at 743.83, gaining 2.29 percent.
In Seoul's foreign exchange market, the won weakened by 0.6 won against the U.S. dollar to close at 1,323.7 won.