The Korea Exchange (KRX) will open its aftermarket trading from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. starting today, expanding trading options for stocks, including small and mid-cap companies. This comes as attention turns to whether the KOSPI can maintain its support at the 7000 level ahead of this week's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) and Bank of Japan (BOJ) meetings.
As of today, the previous after-hours single-price market from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. will be discontinued, and the new aftermarket will operate from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Unlike NXT, KRX will broadly include KOSPI and KOSDAQ stocks and depositary receipts (DRs) for trading, excluding certain stocks that require market management. However, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) will not be included in the initial trading phase.
On September 11, U.S. markets rose despite increased expectations for a September interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve following the August Consumer Price Index (CPI) release. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 509.19 points (0.98%) at 52,573.29. The S&P 500 gained 65.28 points (0.86%) to finish at 7,656.98, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 251.31 points (0.96%) to close at 26,333.04.
Improved investor sentiment was driven by falling international oil prices. Brent crude for November delivery fell $3.02 (2.81%) to $104.61 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for October delivery dropped $2.43 (2.37%) to $100.05 per barrel. Expectations for resumed traffic through the Strait of Hormuz contributed to the decline in oil prices, alongside Oracle's strong performance, which bolstered investment sentiment in tech stocks.
The U.S. August CPI rose 0.4% month-over-month and 3.4% year-over-year, aligning with market expectations. However, the core CPI increased by 0.3%, slightly exceeding the forecast of 0.2%. Consequently, the probability of a 0.25 percentage point rate hike by the Fed during the FOMC meeting on September 17 rose to 86.3% as of the afternoon of September 11, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
This week, domestic markets are expected to focus on the FOMC meeting scheduled for early September 17. Han Ji-young, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, stated, "Even if the Fed does implement a rate hike in September, the key question will be whether it is a one-time preemptive increase to curb inflation from re-accelerating or the start of an additional tightening cycle."
The BOJ meeting is also a variable. One researcher noted, "If the BOJ governor strongly expresses a willingness for further tightening, it could lead to yen appreciation and increased pressure on Japanese government bond yields, potentially triggering noise in yen-carry trades. Thus, the sensitivity of the stock market to the BOJ meeting is expected to be higher than in previous meetings."
As of 8:19 a.m., in the NXT pre-market, Samsung Electronics was down 2.3% from the previous trading day. SK Hynix fell 3.1%, SK Square dropped 2.3%, Samsung Electro-Mechanics decreased by 2.0%, and Hyundai Motor was down 1.1%.
In the domestic market, the KOSPI's ability to hold the 7000 level, foreign investor inflows, and the maintenance of semiconductor leadership are crucial. One researcher commented, "Last week, the KOSPI recovered the 7000 level for the first time in 33 trading days amid foreign net buying, but macro uncertainties in the latter part of the week led to foreign net selling, bringing it back down to the 6900s. Therefore, it is difficult to consider 7000 points as a confirmed support level."
He added, "The key players determining the market direction going forward will be foreign investors. The resumption of their net buying during the FOMC event will be essential for the KOSPI to stabilize above 7000 points. Despite macro uncertainties, the recent demand for AI and the outlook for the memory sector remain intact, allowing the KOSPI to show a pattern of strength after weakness."
Discussions about regulating the pace of AI development, which gained attention over the weekend, are expected to contribute to short-term volatility in related stocks. He noted, "Current discussions are more about adjusting the pace of development and ensuring safety rather than halting AI development altogether. Therefore, interpreting this as a slowdown in the AI investment cycle should be avoided. The effectiveness of strategies to reduce exposure to AI stocks from this point forward is likely to be low, as we will see the results during the third-quarter earnings season at the end of October."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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