South Korean chip stocks rallied after U.S. semiconductor shares jumped following OpenAI's release of its next-generation artificial intelligence model, GPT-6 Astra. Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK hynix (000660.KS) each climbed about 4% in premarket trading on Nextrade, signaling a revival in investor sentiment centered on chipmakers.
Samsung Electronics traded at 265,000 won, up 3.72% from the previous session, in morning premarket trading on the 7th, according to Nextrade. SK hynix was at 1.72 million won, up 4.43%. The Nextrade premarket index rose 2.51%.
The strength in Korean chip stocks followed a rally in U.S. semiconductor shares late last week.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped 3.38% on the 4th. The move contrasted with declines in the broader market, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.51%, the Standard & Poor's 500 lost 0.38% and the Nasdaq slipped 0.29%.
Memory chip stocks led the gains. SK hynix's American depositary receipts rose 8.14%, while Sandisk surged 11.90%, Seagate 6.34%, Micron 6.10% and Western Digital 5.86%. AMD and Intel gained 4.69% and 4.51%, respectively.
The rally was sparked by GPT-6 Astra, the next-generation AI model OpenAI unveiled on the 3rd. While earlier generative AI focused on answering questions, Astra significantly strengthens "AI agent" capabilities that combine search and software use to carry out complex tasks on its own.
Investors are betting that as AI evolves toward handling multiple tasks autonomously over extended periods, rising computing and data processing demands will boost demand not only for graphics processing units but also for memory chips including high-bandwidth memory, DRAM and NAND flash.
"U.S. stocks saw chip names such as Micron and Sandisk rally last Friday as AI demand momentum came back into focus after OpenAI unveiled GPT-6 Astra," said Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities. "With selling pressure on chip stocks at home and abroad likely being exhausted, the market's recovery momentum has a chance of improving from last week."
Volatility is still expected this week, however, depending on U.S. inflation data and Treasury yields. Kiwoom Securities said the KOSPI would be swayed by the U.S. consumer price index and producer price index for August, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield, earnings from technology companies including Oracle and Adobe, and the simultaneous expiration of domestic futures and options. The brokerage put the weekly KOSPI range at 6,400 to 7,050 points.
