DAILY MARKET NOTE / 07 SEP 2026

One Catalyst,
and the Close Was the High

KOSPI +4.61% · close was the session high · just 4.61 points below 7,000After AI-related catalysts converged on Sept. 3, U.S. memory stocks surged on their own in the previous session · Korean chip stocks carried that price signal across the weekend into the first trading dayBy contrast, fell to 52.5% from 60.4% in the previous session

A Memory-Stock Price Signal That Reached Korea with a Lag

MARKET PATH / 01

A Day That Gapped Up and Closed at the High

When the direction changed, and what drove it

KOSPI · 09:00—15:30Opened 6,910.78 → 6,867.91 → closed 6,995.39

OPEN6,910.78+3.34%

HIGH6,995.40+4.61%

LOW6,867.91+2.70%

CLOSE6,995.39+4.61%

THE READ

The morning pullback was not where the catalyst weakened; it was where gap-driven profit-taking was absorbedPersistent semiconductor buying drove the afternoon advance · intraday U.S.-investment headlines added a second catalyst to power-equipment and nuclear names · the fact that the close was the session high captures the character of the moveThe index gain and the broadening inside the market were not the same thing · KOSPI 200 closed with a larger gain than KOSPIKOSDAQ opened above the previous close but finished below its opening level · today’s leadership did not run through both markets with equal force

OPEN · MORNING

A Gap-Up Open, Then One Pullback

Opened with a +3.34% gap, tracking strength in U.S. semiconductors from the previous sessionRose as high as 6,923.64 early, then pulled back · 6,884.40 at 10:15Semiconductor bellwethers remained the main upside axis even when the index fell below its opening level

AFTERNOON

The Pullback Was Erased and Gains Widened Again

Recovered above the open to 6,921.69 around 13:106,964.55 at 14:00 · up 4.15%The upward pull came from the two largest companies by market cap, plus power-equipment and nuclear names

A Close at the High

Just 0.01 points between the high and the close 1,105.19(+5.10%), 0.49pp above KOSPIKOSDAQ share of advancers was 48.3%, below half · the index and market breadth diverged

This is not a minute-by-minute chart, but an intraday direction line connecting the four confirmed points: open, low, high and close.

WHY / 02

One Catalyst from Overseas · One Intraday Headline

Only the catalysts that actually explain the day’s direction

The Main Catalyst for Korean Chips Was the Standalone Rally in U.S. Memory Stocks

After OpenAI unveiled a new model on Sept. 3 local time and NVIDIA’s acquisition landed on the same day, the three major U.S. indices fell in the previous session while semiconductors rose on their ownThe market repriced AI infrastructure and memory · Korea’s first trading day after the weekend reflected the last U.S. session before the Labor Day closureSamsung Electronics +5.68% · SK hynix +8.26%rose together, the market’s No. 1 and No. 2 stocks by capitalization

+3.37%Previous session · Nasdaq fell the same day

View evidence

U.S. market on 2026.09.04 · Dow 53,414.25(-0.51%) · S&P 500 7,718.60(-0.38%) · Nasdaq 26,506.99(-0.29%) · Philadelphia Semiconductor Index 11,735.26(+3.37%)

U.S. semiconductor stocks that day · SanDisk +11.90% · SK hynix ADR +8.14% · Micron +6.10%

Both OpenAI’s new-model release and NVIDIA’s acquisition of Hugging Face were announced locally on Sept. 3 · acquisition value USD 12.9303bn · open-source AI platform with a developer base of 18 million

The two announcements did not directly create memory demand; the sequence was that the U.S. market repriced AI infrastructure and memory after the announcements

The same catalysts worked in the opposite direction for software · software names fell in the previous U.S. session, including Adobe -6.73%

Korean themes · KRX Semiconductor Top 15 +5.91% · KRX K-AI Semiconductor TOP2+ +5.80% · KRX AI Semiconductor +5.00%

U.S. Investment Headlines Added an Intraday Catalyst to the AI Power Theme

On top of the AI data-center power-demand theme, reports on U.S. investment that emerged just after the open added an intraday catalyst6.3GW Encinal, Texas project was reported to have been selected as the first project under the USD 350bn U.S. investment plan, lifting gas-turbine and power-equipment names first · in the afternoon, follow-up reports said eight nuclear reactors in the U.S. would be included in an agreementHowever, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said both reports were inaccurate and that no specifics had been decided · Unconfirmed

+5.14%KRX-Akros AI Power Infrastructure Index · 14 of 15 constituents rose

View evidence

Doosan Enerbility KRW 87,900 +10.98% · KEPCO E&C +13.66% · Doosan Enerbility ranked No. 4 in institutional net buying at +KRW 90.2bn · Hyosung Heavy Industries ranked No. 5 in foreign net buying at +KRW 56.3bn

Encinal report · 6.3GW combined-cycle gas power project in Texas · project cost reportedly being discussed in the roughly USD 22bn range · as of a 09:43 market report, Sammi Metal +12.10% · Doosan Enerbility and BHI both up around 4%

Nuclear report · 14:40 · said the broad direction of building eight large nuclear reactors in the U.S. would be included in an agreement, targeting final signatures on Sept. 18 · reported while the Korean market was still open

After the close, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the report was inaccurate · U.S.-Korea consultations are ongoing and no specifics have yet been decided · project cost, timing and final composition all remain unconfirmed

KOSPI Machinery & Equipment +6.60%, the top gainer among 46 industries · 19 of 33 stocks rose

MONEY / 03

Foreigners Sold KRW 10tn in August — Then Bought KRW 2.552tn Today

Who moved the index today

FOREIGN · KOSPI CASH

+KRW 2.552tn

August net selling KRW 10.1756tn · following +KRW 479.3bn in the previous session, net buying expanded to +KRW 2.552tn today · combined with institutions, +KRW 5.202tnBuying was concentrated in two stocks · 68.0% · SK hynix alone, the No. 1 buy, accounted for 41.4%The denominator is KRW 3.3115tn, the sum of net buying across stocks where that investor was a net buyer, not market-wide net buying

SK hynix+KRW 1.3705tn

Samsung Electronics+KRW 881.7bn

Futures · program trading · detailed flows

Foreign +KRW 2.990tn

Institutional KOSPI 200 futures-KRW 2.848tn

KOSPI program trading+KRW 1.8565tn

+KRW 1.6278tn

Arbitrage +KRW 228.7bn and non-arbitrage +KRW 1.6278tn pointed in the same direction · program trading expanded from +KRW 67.2bn in the previous session · net futures buying is not treated as a straightforward bullish bet
Spot-futures closing spread · cash 1,105.19 (closed 15:30) · futures 1,109.75 (closed 15:45 · 2609) · spread 4.56 · excluded from directional judgment because closing times differ
Top foreign buys · SK hynix +KRW 1.3705tn · Samsung Electronics +KRW 881.7bn · Samsung Electro-Mechanics +KRW 148.5bn · SK Square +KRW 138.0bn · Hyosung Heavy Industries +KRW 56.3bn · top five accounted for 78.4% of net buying across net-bought stocks
Top institutional buys · Samsung Electronics +KRW 1.222tn · SK hynix +KRW 643.8bn · SK Square +KRW 134.7bn · Doosan Enerbility +KRW 90.2bn · Samsung Electronics Preferred +KRW 87.4bn · top-five concentration 69.4% · denominator KRW 3.1385tn
Both groups’ largest net sale was Samsung SDI · foreigners -KRW 42.5bn · institutions -KRW 49.9bn
KOSDAQ · individuals +KRW 190.0bn · institutions -KRW 131.0bn · foreigners -KRW 71.0bn, opposite signs from KOSPI
5-session cumulative (Sep. 1–7), KOSPI · foreigners +KRW 207.0bn · institutions +KRW 1.426tn · individuals -KRW 9.752tn · today’s session effectively reversed the pattern of the prior four
Turnover: KOSPI KRW 21.47tn, 108.8% of its 5-day average · KOSDAQ KRW 6.29tn, 116.9% of its 5-day average
KOSPI KRW 904.1bn · 3.10% of turnover · previous session 4.56% · regular-market basis combining KRX and NXT, so the denominator differs from KOSPI turnover
USD/KRW closed at 1,340.5, down 9.9 won · the stronger won moved in the same direction as foreign net buying

SECTOR / 04

Where It Was Strong · Where It Was Weak

Today’s distribution of strength and weakness, not just a ranking table

20 of 24 KOSPI industries rose, but the top of the return table was concentrated in semiconductor bellwethers and the power names tied to them.Only Machinery & Equipment and Electrical & Electronics rose more than 5% · most other advancing industries gained less than 2%The weakest group was domestic defensives and REITs · they closed in the opposite direction on a day when the index rose more than 4%Because this is a one-day move, the only conclusion is that the top of the strength table changed

STRONG

Machinery & Equipment (KOSPI)+6.60%

Electrical & Electronics (KOSPI)+6.34%

Construction (KOSPI)+4.82%

Financials (KOSPI)+3.18%

WEAK

Food, Beverages & Tobacco (KOSPI)-2.47%

Real Estate (KOSPI)-1.54%

Textiles & Apparel (KOSPI)-1.12%

IT Services (KOSDAQ)-0.96%

Industry evidence

37 of 46 industries rose, 9 fell · KOSPI: 20 of 24 up · KOSDAQ: 17 of 22 up
KOSPI Machinery & Equipment: 19 of 33 stocks rose · Electrical & Electronics: 61 of 84 rose · Food, Beverages & Tobacco: 30 of 47 fell
31 of 39 themes rose, 8 fell · KRX Semiconductor Top 15 +5.91% (14 of 15 constituents up) · KRX K-AI Semiconductor TOP2+ +5.80% · KRX-Akros AI Power Infrastructure +5.14% · KRX AI Semiconductor +5.00%
Leading theme decliners · KRX Prime Office REITs -1.18% · KRX Real Estate REITs Infrastructure -1.03% · KRX K-AI Secondary Battery -0.41% · KRX Secondary Battery TOP 10 -0.38%
All top 10 stocks by market cap rose · SK hynix +8.26% · SK Square +8.07% · Samsung Electronics +5.68% · Samsung Life +4.87% · LG Energy Solution was the smallest gainer at +1.12%
Food names · Samyang Foods -6.14% · Lotte Wellfood -4.74% · Binggrae -4.65% · Nongshim -3.49% · Samyang Foods ranked No. 2 among individual net buys, putting individuals on the other side of the selloff
Industry returns are market-cap-weighted index returns, not industry-level net inflow amounts

CHANGE / 05

Answer to Yesterday’s Question

Today’s check on the conditions set yesterday

YESTERDAY → TODAY

The previous session’s question was whether semiconductors could withstand the renewed rise in U.S. yields · today’s answer: yesEven with rate pressure returning after the upside surprise in U.S. August employment, Korean chip stocks carried through the previous U.S. session’s strength in memory stocksThe share of advancers stayed above half but actually narrowed · the counterpart to individuals selling the two chip stocks shifted from the residual categories to foreigners and institutions

KOSPI Electrical & Electronics

+2.44%

→

+6.34%

Foreign KOSPI cash

+KRW 479.3bn

→

+KRW 2.552tn

Share of advancers · KOSPI

60.4%

→

52.5%

NEXT / 06

What to Check Next Session

Conditions that can actually be scored, rather than probabilities

Will KOSPI Close Above 7,000?

Today’s close was the session high and just 4.61 points below 7,000 · one next-session close is enough to score it

Will Foreigners and Institutions Both Remain Net Buyers Next Session?

After combined net selling of more than KRW 15tn by the two groups in August, check whether the synchronized buying persists · read the sign of foreign cash and institutional cash separately

Will the Rally Broaden Beyond Semiconductors?

Watch whether the share of advancers rises from 52.5% into the 60% range · if the index rises while breadth falls, the structure remains one where two stocks are carrying the index

A day when the index rose, but the market beneath it never broadened to the same degree.

Sources · data conventions

As of 2026.09.07 · domestic figures are finalized closing data
Index open/high/low/close, market breadth, investor totals · Korea Exchange and NAVER Finance finalized closing data
Stock-level flows · Korea Exchange closing investor trading data (entire stock market)
Industries & themes · Korea Exchange industry indices and official theme indices
Futures & program trading · Korea Exchange finalized at 15:45
Short selling · Korea Exchange regular market · KRX and NXT combined
Overseas indices · U.S. market close on 2026.09.04 · U.S. market closed Sept. 7 for Labor Day
OpenAI new-model release and NVIDIA acquisition of Hugging Face · announced locally on 2026.09.03 · acquisition value as announced
First U.S.-investment project and eight U.S. nuclear reactors · Korean reporting on 2026.09.07 · the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the reports were inaccurate the same day · Unconfirmed
U.S. August employment report · U.S. Department of Labor release on 2026.09.04 · after the Korean market close
August cumulative investor net selling and U.S. individual stock moves · same-day market reports
Intraday index path · same-day KOSPI market reports
Individual stock moves · same-day market reports
Calendar · ECB · Federal Reserve published schedules
Cover-title September seasonality · KOSPI’s average September return from 2000–2025 was -0.68%, the lowest of all 12 months · compiled in Korean reporting on 2026.09.02 · not used in the report’s body analysis