Seoul stocks rebound more than 3% as chip shares recover
Kospi gained 3.29% after Tuesday's near 4% drop, helped by a strong outlook from Super Micro Computer.
South Korea's Kospi index rose 182.92 points, or 3.29%, to 5,735.66 on Wednesday, recovering from a drop of nearly 4% in the previous session. Semiconductor shares led the move: Samsung Electronics gained 5.67% and SK hynix 5.81%. The exchange briefly halted program buying for five minutes late in the morning after Kospi 200 futures jumped more than 5%, the first such pause in two months.
Analysts tied the bounce to easing worries over AI spending after Super Micro Computer raised its quarterly revenue outlook, as well as bargain hunting after the sell-off. Japan's market also rose, led by technology shares. U.S. stock futures were higher, with Nasdaq futures up about 0.6% to 0.7%.
This follows Tuesday's U.S. session, when the Dow rose about 1% while the Nasdaq ended flat. See our Dusk Ledger for the close and the First Light Asia story for Tuesday's Asian losses.
