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Market wrap · Wednesday, October 21, 2026

KOSPI rebounds 3.3% to 5,735.7 as foreigners return; Samsung, SK hynix jump over 5%

KOSPI+3.3%KOSDAQ+1.4%KOSPI 200+3.8%

KOSPI rebounded 3.3% to 5,735.7 after the previous session's sharp fall, with foreign investors returning as net buyers. Reports tied the move to a revival in AI sentiment after SpaceX's strong results and US tech earnings. Samsung Electronics rose 5.7% and SK hynix 5.8%, and HBM & AI chips averaged +4.2%. Chip equipment (+1.9%) and chip testing and packaging (+2.8%) followed.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics (+1.1%) was reported to be building dedicated AI substrate plants with NVIDIA. LIG Defense&Aerospace fell 9.0% after the defense procurement agency barred it from bidding for two years, and Hanwha Life fell 6.8% on a Q3 loss outlook. Newly listed Elice rebounded 29.9% to its upper limit after a 32% fall on debut.

Why the market moved

KOSPI rebounded as foreign investors returned as net buyers and AI sentiment recovered on SpaceX's 161% Q3 revenue jump and strong US tech earnings.1234

Top themes

HBM & AI chips

AI sentiment revival; foreign buying returns123

Semiconductor equipment

Chip rally lifted equipment makers12

  • KoMi, Chip parts cleaning; SK hynix customer+11.16%
  • Kctech, Chip equipment theme; chip customers+9.89%
  • Zeusco, Moved with equipment theme+9.18%

Robotics

Theme rally; Bigwave physical AI platform12

The big stories

KOSPI rebounds 3.3% as foreigners return and chip giants surge

Foreign investors returned as net buyers after a sharp selloff, lifting KOSPI 3.29% to around 5,735 with Samsung Electronics up 5.67% and SK hynix up 5.81%. SpaceX's 161% revenue jump and strong US tech earnings revived AI sentiment.123456789

Directly affected

Next in line

Samsung Electro-Mechanics and NVIDIA build dedicated AI substrate fabs

Samsung Electro-Mechanics is teaming up with NVIDIA to build dedicated AI chip substrate plants in Sejong and Busan, with NVIDIA becoming a major buyer and co-investing in production. Mirae Asset says even BGA substrates are in short supply.1234567

Directly affected

Next in line

Further out

Elice plunges 32% on debut, then hits upper limit the next day

Newly listed KOSDAQ AI firm Elice fell 32% on its first trading day, then rebounded to its upper limit with a 29.92% close. Wall Street attention on the stock helped drive the reversal.12345

Directly affected

Next in line

LIG D&A falls 9% after two-year defense bidding ban

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration barred LIG Defense & Aerospace from bidding for two years over an alleged bribe to an official. The stock closed down 9.03%, and the company said it will appeal.12345

Directly affected

Next in line

Hanwha Life falls 6.8% on Q3 loss outlook and dividend doubts

Hanwha Life dropped 6.8% after a Q3 loss forecast and a halt in key product sales, with analysts lowering targets over interest and exchange-rate effects on investment losses. Dividend security is seen as the key issue.123456

Directly affected

Next in line

Samsung Biologics posts record Q3 revenue and raises annual outlook

Samsung Biologics reported Q3 revenue of ₩1.49T and operating profit of ₩640.1B, a record driven by US production, and raised its annual growth outlook to over 20%. The stock closed up 1.87%.123456

Directly affected

Next in line

The market

KOSPI rose 3.3% to 5,735.7, KOSDAQ 1.4% to 792.8 and KOSPI 200 3.8% to 891.0. Decliners (1,292) outnumbered gainers (1,204), with 266 unchanged. Trading value was about ₩23.7 trillion versus an average of about ₩29.1 trillion. The won strengthened to 1,328 per dollar (-0.3%), KTB 3-year yield was 3.822% and US 10-year 5.13%. The S&P 500 gained 0.6%, Nasdaq 100 ETF 1.1%, US chips ETF 2.1% and the Nikkei 0.9%. Brent was 110.01.

KOSPIDaily closes · shaded: this wrap5,735.66
6,0006,5007,000
Sep 7Sep 18Oct 7Oct 21
KOSDAQDaily closes · shaded: this wrap792.76
800850900
Sep 7Sep 18Oct 7Oct 21

1,204 stocks rose, 1,292 fell · trading value ₩24T

USD/KRW1,328−0.3%
KTB 3y3.82-2bp
UST 10y5.13+1bp
S&P 5007,757.17+0.6%
Nasdaq 100 (QQQ ETF)+1.1%
US chips (SOXX ETF)+2.1%
Nikkei 22564,621.24+0.9%
Brent oil110.01+0.6%
Gold4,143+0.2%
Copper (CPER ETF)−0.5%

Themes investors follow

HBM & AI chips led at +4.2%, followed by on-device AI (+2.9%), chip testing and packaging (+2.8%), CDMO (+2.5%), power grid and cables (+2.1%), robots (+1.9%) and chip equipment (+1.9%). In robots, NRobotics rose 20.1% and HT Robotics 14.0% with no company news, and Bigwave Robotics rose 11.4% on a physical AI platform launch. In power grid, LS Electric rose 7.0%. Crypto (-2.4%), aesthetics (-1.7%), webtoons (-1.7%) and cybersecurity (-1.3%) fell. K-defense averaged +0.3%, shipbuilding +0.5%, nuclear +1.0%, EV batteries +0.8%.

Popular themes

Best themes

Worst themes

  • Crypto & digital assets−2.4%Satoshi Holdings −4.1% · Bitplanet −3.2% · Parataxis Ethereum 0.0%
  • Aesthetics & botox−1.7%Classys −5.4% · WON Tech −3.4% · Genic −2.4%
  • Webtoons & content−1.7%Barunson Entertainment & Arts −18.4% · CJ ENM −4.2% · Daewon Media −2.3%
  • Zinc & non-ferrous metals−1.4%Daiyang Metal −3.5% · Youngpoong −2.2% · Poongsan −0.7%
  • Cybersecurity−1.3%Genians −7.1% · Igloo −3.2% · Ahnlab −3.0%
  • Insurance−1.3%Hanwha Life Insurance −6.8% · Seoul Guarantee Insurance −2.8% · Heungkuk Fire & Marine Insurance −2.0%

The biggest companies

Samsung Electronics rose 5.7% and SK hynix 5.8%. SK Square rose 5.1%, Samsung C&T 5.5% and Samsung Life 3.4%. Samsung Biologics rose 1.9% after record Q3 revenue of ₩1.49 trillion and operating profit of ₩640.1 billion. Samsung Electro-Mechanics gained 1.1%. LG Energy Solution fell 0.6%, Hyundai Motor 0.2%, KIA 1.7%, Samsung SDI 0.4% and KB Financial 0.2%. Hanwha Aerospace rose 1.9%.

Who was buying and selling

Foreign investors bought about ₩652.7 billion of KOSPI and sold about ₩175.5 billion of KOSDAQ. Their top buys were Samsung Electronics (about ₩461.4 billion) and SK hynix (about ₩192.1 billion); they sold Samsung SDI (about ₩77.7 billion) and Samsung Electro-Mechanics (about ₩54.4 billion). Institutions bought Samsung Electronics, Samsung Biologics and LS Electric, and sold Hyundai Motor and SK hynix. Retail sold SK hynix (about ₩736.4 billion) and Samsung Electronics (about ₩520.9 billion) and bought Samsung SDI and Samsung Electro-Mechanics.

Foreign investors

Net bought

  1. 1Samsung Electronics+₩461B+5.7%
  2. 2SK hynix+₩192B+5.8%
  3. 3Hyundai Motor+₩22B−0.2%
  4. 4Shinhan Financial Group+₩20B−0.1%
  5. 5Hanwha Aerospace+₩16B+1.9%
  6. 6APR+₩16B+2.9%
  7. 7Samsung Heavy Industries+₩13B+2.1%
  8. 8Samsung C&T+₩12B+5.5%
  9. 9Hyosung Heavy Industries+₩12B+3.0%
  10. 10NAVER+₩12B+0.8%
  11. 11Sanil Electric+₩12B+3.9%
  12. 12Doosan+₩10B+4.6%
  13. 13Hanwha Ocean+₩10B+0.9%
  14. 14LG Electronics+₩9.8B+1.0%
  15. 15Samsung SDS+₩8.4B+1.4%

Net sold

  1. 1Samsung SDI−₩78B−0.4%
  2. 2Samsung Electro-Mechanics−₩54B+1.1%
  3. 3Daeduck Electronics−₩37B−0.2%
  4. 4Samsung Electronics Pref.−₩37B+3.8%
  5. 5Seojin System−₩33B−10.9%
  6. 6Hanmi Semiconductor−₩17B+1.6%
  7. 7Simmtech−₩14B+1.6%
  8. 8Hyundai Mobis−₩14B−0.6%
  9. 9Hanwha Solutions−₩10B−0.2%
  10. 10Woori Financial Group−₩10B−0.9%
  11. 11Korea Circuit−₩10B−0.6%
  12. 12Ecopro−₩9.7B+0.1%
  13. 13Kctech−₩9.1B+9.9%
  14. 14Isupetasys−₩8.9B0.0%
  15. 15Samsung Biologics−₩8.7B+1.9%

Institutions

Net bought

  1. 1Samsung Electronics+₩71B+5.7%
  2. 2Samsung Biologics+₩25B+1.9%
  3. 3LS Electric+₩22B+7.0%
  4. 4Samsung E&A+₩20B+9.4%
  5. 5LG CNS+₩20B+5.4%
  6. 6Samsung Electronics Pref.+₩19B+3.8%
  7. 7Alteogen+₩17B+3.9%
  8. 8Samyang Foods+₩15B+2.7%
  9. 9SK Innovation+₩15B+4.2%
  10. 10SK Square+₩15B+5.1%
  11. 11Hanwha Systems+₩14B+5.2%
  12. 12LIG Defense&Aerospace+₩13B−9.0%
  13. 13Kctech+₩13B+9.9%
  14. 14Simmtech+₩12B+1.6%
  15. 15Daeduck Electronics+₩11B−0.2%

Net sold

  1. 1Hyundai Motor−₩34B−0.2%
  2. 2SK hynix−₩23B+5.8%
  3. 3Shinhan Financial Group−₩20B−0.1%
  4. 4LG Electronics−₩15B+1.0%
  5. 5Samsung SDI−₩13B−0.4%
  6. 6KIA−₩13B−1.7%
  7. 7NAVER−₩12B+0.8%
  8. 8LG Innotek−₩11B−0.1%
  9. 9Hana Financial Group−₩10B0.0%
  10. 10Samsung Electro-Mechanics−₩10B+1.1%
  11. 11POSCO Holdings−₩10B−0.3%
  12. 12LG Energy Solution−₩10B−0.6%
  13. 13KT&G−₩9.4B0.0%
  14. 14APR−₩9B+2.9%
  15. 15Iljin Electric−₩8.7B+1.8%

Retail investors

Net bought

  1. 1Samsung SDI+₩96B−0.4%
  2. 2Samsung Electro-Mechanics+₩68B+1.1%
  3. 3Seojin System+₩35B−10.9%
  4. 4Daeduck Electronics+₩25B−0.2%
  5. 5Hanmi Semiconductor+₩23B+1.6%
  6. 6Samsung Electronics Pref.+₩20B+3.8%
  7. 7Isupetasys+₩15B0.0%
  8. 8Hyundai Motor+₩13B−0.2%
  9. 9Leeno Industrial+₩11B−0.2%
  10. 10KT+₩11B−3.0%
  11. 11Hanwha Life Insurance+₩11B−6.8%
  12. 12Hanwha Solutions+₩11B−0.2%
  13. 13Kakao+₩10B−1.9%
  14. 14KIA+₩10B−1.7%
  15. 15HPSP+₩9.8B+1.2%

Net sold

  1. 1SK hynix−₩736B+5.8%
  2. 2Samsung Electronics−₩521B+5.7%
  3. 3LG CNS−₩25B+5.4%
  4. 4Samsung E&A−₩24B+9.4%
  5. 5Hanwha Systems−₩20B+5.2%
  6. 6Alteogen−₩19B+3.9%
  7. 7Samsung Biologics−₩16B+1.9%
  8. 8LS Electric−₩16B+7.0%
  9. 9Samsung Heavy Industries−₩15B+2.1%
  10. 10SK Square−₩14B+5.1%
  11. 11Samyang Foods−₩14B+2.7%
  12. 12LIG Defense&Aerospace−₩13B−9.0%
  13. 13SK Innovation−₩12B+4.2%
  14. 14Samsung C&T−₩12B+5.5%
  15. 15Gaon Cable−₩11B+5.0%

ETFs

The best ETFs were chip and AI funds: TIGER US AI Data Center TOP4 Plus (+5.1%), RISE Global AI NAND Memory Semiconductor (+4.7%) and TIGER Semiconductor TOP10 (+4.6%). The worst were TIGER China EV SOLACTIVE (-4.0%), high-dividend and covered-call funds (about -1.0% to -1.6%) and defense funds (KODEX Defense TOP10 -0.9%).

Best ETFs

Worst ETFs

Leveraged and inverse ETFs are left out; moves are the daily moves compounded.

How our signals did

Of 15 Squeeze! setups since 2026-09-21, 5 reached TP1, 5 were stopped and 5 are open. Yangjisa (long) reached TP2 at +9.8%, Kukdo Chemical (short) TP1 at +5.3%, and TS Trillion TP3 at +4.6%. Myoung Shin Industry was marked stop. Of 40 technical events, 13 worked. No pair trades were flagged. Short squeeze scores: Meritz Financial Group, Hanssem and ISU Specialty Chemical at 60.

Squeeze! setups

15 setups confirmed: 5 reached a target, 5 stopped out, 5 still open.

Notable technical signals

40 notable signals: 13 moved the way they pointed so far.

Highest short squeeze scores

Signals since Sep 21. Signals describe past prices. Results run from the signal to the latest close; they are not recommendations.

Written by AI from JONBUR's data and checked against those figures. Reasons come only from the linked news, filings and broker reports for that day; when none gives a reason, we say so. Index moves marked est. are our estimate from closing prices until the official index is available. Not financial advice.

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