South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index opened sharply higher on Wednesday, rising 1.86 percent or 152.95 points, in a clear break from the broader global technology selloff.
The rally came despite significant losses in U.S. chip stocks, which have been under pressure amid growing concerns over valuation and demand sustainability in the artificial intelligence sector.
The divergence marks a notable shift from late Tuesday trading, when Seoul’s tech-heavy market extended losses in tandem with an overnight slump in U.S. technology shares.
The reversal suggests that local investors are beginning to decouple from the negative sentiment dominating Wall Street, potentially viewing the recent pullback as a buying opportunity rather than a fundamental deterioration.
This move is particularly significant for the semiconductor sector, which constitutes a large portion of the Kospi’s weighting.
While U.S. peers like Nvidia and AMD faced selling pressure, Korean chipmakers appeared to find support, indicating that regional supply-chain dynamics and local liquidity conditions may be providing a buffer against global headwinds.