Chip Duo Powers KOSPI Back Above 7,000

* Editor's note: AI PRISM (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an artificial intelligence-based personalized news recommendation and summary service developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It selects and delivers six tailored news items for each reader type.

1. Can Chip Duo, Relieved of Concentration, Lead Escape From Range-Bound KOSPI?

Key points: The KOSPI closed at 7,007.72, up 1.65% from the previous session, reclaiming the 7,000 level for the first time in seven trading days. Samsung Electronics surged 4.98%, returning above 270,000 won for the first time in 10 sessions. According to Mirae Asset Securities, a gauge of concentration in the chip sector stood at minus 0.83 as of the 18th, pointing to a neglected, or "empty house," phase. Memory chip exports during the first 20 days of September came to $21.5 billion, up 350.7% from a year earlier, according to Korea Customs Service data, and Goldman Sachs issued a buy rating on Samsung Electronics with a target price of 490,000 won. With overheating concerns worked off and fundamentals reaffirmed by solid export figures, analysts said an attempt to break out of the trading range could gain more traction than before.

2. Average Return of Minus 5.9% This Year Leaves U.S. Long-Term Bond ETF Investors Anxious

Key points: The 14 domestically listed ETFs tracking 30-year U.S. Treasuries posted an average year-to-date return of minus 5.9%, with the unhedged RISE US 30-Year Treasury Active fund down 10.82%. ACE US 30-Year Treasury Active (H), the largest in the segment with 1.4824 trillion won in net assets, was also down 4.73% from the start of the year. Hana Securities said the recent modest decline in yields reflected nothing more than falling oil prices and that a downward trend in rates is hard to expect. Hanwha Investment & Securities, by contrast, said investors with a long-term horizon could consider new purchases at current levels, where volatility is unlikely to widen much further.

3. Borrowing to Go All In on OpenAI: SoftBank Issues 15 Trillion Won in Junk Bonds

Key points: SoftBank plans to issue $10 billion in dollar-denominated bonds and 1 billion euros in euro-denominated bonds, totaling 15.3 trillion won, to cover the third tranche of a $10 billion follow-on investment in OpenAI. SoftBank has raised $15 billion in bond markets this year alone, ranking among the largest borrowers in the speculative-grade market, and the yield on its dollar bonds maturing in 2031 has climbed to 8.2% this month from a low of 6.7% in January. The cost of insuring SoftBank debt against default has also risen to its highest level in three years. Concerns have emerged that expectations for improved liquidity in SoftBank's holdings are being shaken as OpenAI's comments ruling out a listing this year coincide with calls to slow the pace of AI investment.

4. NH Investment & Securities Bets on Short-Term IMA With First 18-Month Product

Key points: NH Investment & Securities will launch N2 IMA1 No. 4, an 18-month product with a benchmark return of about 4.3% a year, on the 29th, marking the first appearance of a short-term product with a maturity of under two years in the investment management account market. Existing IMA products have centered on medium- to long-term maturities of two to three years, and demand for short-term, high-yield products is running hot. A special six-month promissory note offering from Shinhan Securities sold out within five hours. Samsung Securities began offering promissory notes at 5.5% a year on the same day, as brokerages actively reflect a rising benchmark rate environment in their yields, intensifying competition. Because the issuing brokerage bears the obligation to repay principal on IMAs and promissory notes, they are drawing attention as investment alternatives for those seeking stable returns amid heightened stock market volatility.

5. Hard to Find Projects Yielding 17% a Year: Concerns Over Long-Term Risks of U.S. Investment

Key points: Because only 50% of profits are used to repay principal and interest under the Korea-U.S. investment program, projects would need an internal rate of return of 17.2% to recover principal and interest within 20 years, assuming a 5% annual interest rate, according to an analysis presented to the National Assembly's special committee on U.S. investment. Concerns are spreading that the repayment period could stretch to 40 years after the U.S. side refused to adjust the profit-sharing ratio. The government is negotiating until the last minute to secure an umbrella fund structure and written guarantees of Korean corporate participation, while on the equity stake tied to the Westinghouse initial public offering, Korea is demanding more than 10% and the U.S. is seeking to cap it at 5% to 10%. There are also expectations that, if the projects proceed, they could lead to decades of order opportunities for nuclear power companies such as Korea Electric Power and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power.

6. Korea Exchange: After-Market Volatility Halts Fall From 1,112 to 553, Special Monitoring Task Force Through Year-End

Key points: Triggers of the Korea Exchange's volatility interruption mechanism in after-market trading fell by about half to 553 on the 18th from 1,112 on the first day of trading. Considering that after-market volume amounts to just 6.1% of the regular session, that is slightly above the regular market's daily average of 494 triggers, while actual high-low volatility was lower than in the regular session for five consecutive trading days after the launch. The exchange plans to run an after-market special monitoring task force of nine people covering surveillance, prevention and short selling through the end of the year to strengthen oversight of unfair trading. Individual investors accounted for 90.4% of average daily turnover of 1.1 trillion won in the first week, underscoring the heavy retail tilt of the night trading market.