KOSPI Stages V-Shaped Rebound as Samsung and SK Hynix Jump on Technicals and Rumors

Overview

• On Friday the KOSPI staged a dramatic V-shaped recovery, climbing 5.76% to close at 8,088.34 after falling to about 7,300 earlier in the session.
• Samsung surged about 8.22% Friday after a roughly 9.1% drop the prior session and SK Hynix jumped about 10.88% after a 14.6% collapse the day before, reversing the sharp two-day selloff.
• Traders and analysts say the rally was driven mainly by technical short-covering, bargain hunting and rapid flows from short-term funds, with reports that Anthropic has held talks with Samsung on custom AI hardware providing an unconfirmed additional catalyst.
• South Korea’s regulator warned that forced selling in highly leveraged single-stock ETFs amplified the earlier plunge, and broader questions about memory supply, corporate capex plans and listings still pose structural risks to the sector.
• The run-up in AI-focused memory stocks has been extreme this year — the KOSPI is up roughly 92% YTD and Micron about 166% YTD — so markets will watch any confirmation of the Anthropic talks, regulatory moves on ETFs and companies’ capacity plans for signs of where prices go next.