Shares of nuclear power companies surged on a mega project investing 1,500 trillion won in the semiconductor, artificial intelligence (AI) data center, and physical AI industries. In the semiconductor sector, Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK hynix (000660.KS) plan large-scale investments in the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster in Gyeonggi Province, while also preparing to invest 800 trillion won in the southwestern region, pointing to enormous power demand.
According to the Korea Exchange on the 10th, Doosan Enerbility closed at 78,100 won, up 6.69 percent from the previous trading day. Doosan, the parent company of Doosan Enerbility, ended the session at 1.382 million won, surging 14.88 percent. Hyundai Engineering & Construction (8.39 percent) and Daewoo Engineering & Construction (8.79 percent), which had risen sharply as nuclear-related stocks earlier this year before undergoing a correction, also climbed rapidly.
The gains in nuclear stocks are attributed to the KOSPI's overall strength that day, with favorable projects such as the mega project drawing attention. On the 29th of last month, the government said that about 1,500 trillion won in corporate investment is planned for three mega projects. For new semiconductor investment, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix decided to invest a total of 800 trillion won in the southwestern region to build four memory semiconductor production plants (fabs). For AI data centers, SK, GS, Naver and others decided to invest 550 trillion won to build centers with a capacity of 8.4GW. All these facilities require enormous amounts of power.
The KOSPI closed at 7,475.94 that day, up 184.03 points (2.52 percent) from the previous trading day. At 12:54 p.m., the index surged, triggering a buy sidecar. A KOSPI buy sidecar is activated when KOSPI 200 futures (nearest month) rise 5 percent from the previous trading day and the move persists for one minute. The KOSDAQ closed at 837.43, up 43.43 points (5.47 percent) from the previous trading day. The KOSDAQ index also triggered a buy sidecar at 1:08 p.m.
