Nearly reached it,
but never broke through
NVIDIA earnings offset U.S. inflation pressure, sending KOSPI to a +2.76% gap-up open
After the Bank of Korea raised the policy rate to 3.00%, the index gave back nearly half of the opening gain
Close +1.53% · despite a 104-point index rise, narrowed to 35.0%.
The earnings-driven gap did the heavy lifting · the opening print marked the day's high. The index held roughly half the gap · 34 sectors rose · 44 fell. This was not a broad-market advance, but a rally led by a narrow group of leaders.
6,996.12 (+2.76%) open · that level became the day's ceiling. The market turned lower immediately after the morning rate-hike announcement · formed the low at 10:00, 6,841.88 (+0.49%).
After the low, electrical equipment and secondary batteries joined semiconductors · KOSPI recovered the 6,900 level. It failed to retest the morning high · the gap between rising and falling sectors persisted throughout the afternoon.
Closed at 6,912.37 (+1.53%) · gave back nearly half of the gap-up gain. Advancers 317 · decliners 539 · declining stocks outnumbered advancing stocks even on an index-up day.
KOSPI advancer ratio fell from 64.6% → 35.0% · nearly halved. During a 104-point index rise, decliners outnumbered advancers by 1.7×.
Individuals net sold Samsung Electronics -KRW 862.1bn · SK hynix -KRW 591.3bn. At the same time, they net bought Hyundai Motor · Hyundai Mobis · Kia · while the auto sector closed -2.86%.
Net bought Samsung Electronics · net sold SK hynix · repeating the previous day's split. Both flows, however, were smaller.
In just three sessions, the index recovered to the level that preceded the -3.12% drop on 8/24 · ending just 0.58p from the 8/21 close. Yet only one in three stocks advanced at that level · the index came back, the broader market did not.
In the gap-up session, individuals net sold KRW 1.912tn of KOSPI cash equities. At the stock level, they were heavy net sellers of large-cap semiconductors while net buying three auto names. The market, however, rewarded the opposite side of those trades.
Leadership shifted toward power/electrical equipment and secondary batteries. Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment +1.87% · the sector return itself was modest, but internal breadth improved versus the previous day with 121 of 172 stocks up and 41 down. On the other side, automobiles and auto parts weakened together.
① U.S. inflation
July : headline +0.2% MoM · +3.7% YoY · core +0.2% MoM · +3.3% YoY · real was essentially flat. Headline inflation came in somewhat above market expectations and remained too high to say inflation pressure had sufficiently eased · U.S. 10-year yield 4.664%, +2.5bp · Nasdaq -0.08%. Discount-rate pressure was already present before the Korean open · the U.S. regular session had not ended in strong risk-on mode.
② NVIDIA
Reported after the U.S. regular-session close. Revenue $96.22B · adjusted EPS $2.22 · Q3 revenue guidance $108B ±2% all beat consensus · data-center revenue $89.0B. The key takeaway was not the quarter already reported, but confirmation that demand remained durable into Q3 · a direct catalyst for strength in Korean semiconductors and KOSPI's +2.76% gap-up open.
③ Bank of Korea
Policy rate 2.75% → 3.00% · 25bp · second consecutive hike. The 2026 growth forecast was raised 2.6% → 3.3% · median 6-month policy-rate outlook 3.25%. Stronger growth is supportive for corporate earnings, but it also widens the scope for further tightening · stronger tightening expectations weighed on the morning session.
The market and individual investors backed opposite sides today. The next session will show which side changes course first.