South Korean shares end nearly 1% higher as chipmakers rebound

SAMSUNG BIOLOGICS

27/07/2026 07:46

KOSPI rises, foreigners net sellers
Korean won weakens against dollar
South Korea benchmark bond yield falls
For the midday report, please click nL1N43T01P
SEOUL, July 27 (Reuters) - Round-up of South Korean financial markets:
** South Korean shares closed nearly 1% higher after a volatile session on Monday, as chipmaker heavyweights rebounded with second-quarter earnings in focus. 
** The benchmark KOSPI .KS11 closed up 65.12 points, or 0.97%, at 6,755.74, after falling as much as 2% and rising as much as 1.7% during the session. 
** Chipmaker Samsung Electronics 005930.KS rose 1.80% and peer SK Hynix 000660.KS gained 3.24%. Both companies are scheduled to release their second-quarter results later this week.
** The two chipmakers, which account for more than half of the KOSPI by market capitalisation, briefly turned lower during the session, with analysts attributing it to foreign selling linked to memory chipmaker CXMT Corp's 688825.SS listing in China. 
** "The market is in a wait-and-see mood, with trading volume declining after recent volatility, ahead of earnings releases this week," said Seo Sang-young, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities. 
** South Korea announced $950 billion in new AI initiatives involving Samsung Electronics, SK Group and U.S. tech firms on Saturday as global AI leaders rush to fill a shortage of faster chips to power and develop more advanced systems.
** E-commerce firm Naver 035420.KS jumped 8.43% on U.S. chipmaker Nvidia's NVDA.O acquisition of shares worth $1 billion in the company as part of an investment partnership to build a new data centre.
** Of the total 916 traded issues, 495 shares advanced, while 374 declined.
** Foreigners were net sellers of shares worth 2.9 trillion won ($1.98 billion). 
** The won was quoted at 1,468.5 per dollar on the onshore settlement platform KRW=KFTC, 0.68% lower than its previous close at 1,458.5.
** The most liquid three-year Korean treasury bond yield KR3YT=RR fell by 9.5 basis points to 3.868%, while the benchmark 10-year yield KR10YT=RR fell by 11.0 basis points to 4.344%.
     
($1 = 1,467.4700 won)

(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)
((jihoon.lee@thomsonreuters.com;))