Major stocks in the top five by market capitalization are surging in early trading.
As of 9:15 a.m. on July 31, Samsung Electronics is trading at 249,500 won, up 42,500 won (20.53%) from the previous trading day. SK Hynix has risen 300,000 won (22.70%) to 1,622,000 won. Samsung Electronics preferred shares and SK Square have also jumped 20.66% and 26.41%, respectively, while Samsung Electro-Mechanics has hit its upper limit with a 29.69% increase.
This surge is attributed to a rebound in semiconductor stocks on the New York Stock Exchange, driven by strong performances from big tech and semiconductor equipment companies. Investor sentiment, which had been dampened by concerns over overheating in AI investments, has improved, leading to an 8.2% rise in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) on July 30.
Memory semiconductor stocks are leading the upward trend. Samsung Electronics has projected that the shortage of memory supply could continue until 2028, raising expectations for market improvement. Following a significant correction after its earnings announcement, SK Hynix's American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) rebounded by 17.5%, while Micron and SanDisk surged by 18.3% and 25.8%, respectively.
Semiconductor equipment stocks and AI infrastructure-related companies also showed strength. Lam Research soared 17.9% after exceeding market expectations with its performance and positive outlook based on demand for AI semiconductor equipment. Microsoft announced plans for significant growth in its Azure cloud business and expanded AI investments, resulting in a 15.2% increase. Other companies, including Applied Materials (15.0%), AMD (13.3%), Marvell Technology (13.2%), Intel (10.9%), and NVIDIA (2.8%), also experienced gains.
After the market closed, Amazon reported earnings that surpassed market expectations. Revenue from its core cloud business, AWS, increased by 37% year-over-year, marking the highest growth rate since 2021 and reaffirming expectations for expanded AI infrastructure investment.
In South Korea, expectations for improved memory market conditions are spreading, particularly around Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. SK Square, which has SK Hynix as a subsidiary, is also seeing a rise in corporate value, with gains exceeding 20%. Samsung Electro-Mechanics has surged to its upper limit due to expectations of improved performance driven by increased demand for AI servers and high-performance semiconductors.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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