TradingKey - Japanese and South Korean Markets Diverge at the Open! KOSPI Strongly Conquers the 7,000 Mark; Japanese Stocks Await Japan's GDP Data as SoftBank, Samsung Electronics, and SK Hynix Continue to Gain.

On September 8 Asian time, major Asia-Pacific stock indices diverged at the open, with South Korean stocks opening higher and Japanese stocks opening lower. Among them, South Korea's KOSPI Index opened higher and extended gains, rising 1.13% to breach the 7,000 mark and trading at 7,074.77 points. Core tech chip stocks continued to open higher and rally, with Samsung Electronics up 0.56% at 271,500 KRW and SK Hynix up 0.45% at 1,791,000 KRW.

KOSPI Index chart, Source: TradingView

The Nikkei 225 Index opened 0.84% lower before narrowing its loss to 0.2%, standing at 66,251.97 points. Two major heavyweights saw mixed trading, with SoftBank rising 1.11% to 6,286 JPY, while Kioxia dropped 1.23% to 58,800 JPY.

Markets are focused on Japan's revised Q2 GDP data released on September 8. As the previous preliminary data fell short of expectations, concerns that the pace of economic recovery could impact the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) rate hike decision in mid-September kept bullish capital cautious during the opening phase of Japanese stocks. In addition, the yen fluctuated against the US dollar in the 150-151 range, while US Treasury yields edged up at high levels, weighing on Japanese exporters and certain high-valuation semiconductor equipment stocks at the open. In contrast, the South Korean won remained at relatively high levels against the US dollar, with foreign investors continuing to net buy South Korean tech heavyweights during Asian trading hours.

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