News
Asian Stocks Mixed as KOSPI Rebounds, SK Hynix Surges 4.42%
Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday. The KOSPI rebounded from an intraday loss to close 0.3% higher. SK Hynix led the recovery with a 4.42% gain. Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.3%. Hong Kong and Shanghai stocks advanced despite an overnight sell-off in US technology and semiconductor shares. The KOSPI opened at 5,403.17 and fell to an intraday low of 5,305.98 before recovering steadily through the session. It climbed to 5,550.30 by the close, gaining 0.3% from Thursday’s closing level of 5,533.77. The Nasdaq fell 2.6%, and the S&P 500 fell 1.21% overnight, while the Dow edged up 0.02%. Micron dropped 6.26%, Nvidia 4.4% and Intel 8.04%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell more than 6%. Experts tied the selling to concerns over Meta's weaker cash flow and the cost of its large AI investments. SK Hynix fell more than 5% early, then closed up 4.42% at 1.28 million won. The KOSDAQ saw foreigners sell a net 44 billion won and institutions sell 24.7 billion won, while individuals bought 63 billion won. The won strengthened to 1,324.6 per dollar. Bitcoin traded near $81,494 at the time of writing. An analyst argued that oil is a headwind for the token and added that Bitcoin has often lost momentum when Brent settles into a strong uptrend above its annual average, and has often recovered when crude falls sharply.