TradingKey - On August 12, stock markets in Japan and South Korea closed higher, with South Korean equities exhibiting particularly strong performance. Samsung surged 6%, SK Hynix jumped 5%, and Kioxia gained nearly 4%.

South Korea's KOSPI Index closed up 3.68% at 6,579.04 points, while the Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.83% to finish at 67,524.06 points.

During intraday trading, the KOSPI's gains expanded significantly at one point. The Korea Exchange triggered a temporary sidecar mechanism for the KOSPI after KOSPI 200 index futures rose 5%, suspending program buy orders for 5 minutes.

Source: TradingView

South Korea's semiconductor sector served as the primary driver of the broader market rebound. Samsung Electronics closed up 6.68% at 255,500 won (approx. $180), while SK Hynix gained 5.54% to 1,504,000 won, with both chip giants surging over 8% at their intraday highs.

In the Japanese market, memory chipmaker Kioxia rose 3.87% to 49,870 yen (approx. $313), while SoftBank Group gained a modest 0.66% to close at 5,520 yen.

On the capital flow front, Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek is reportedly planning to directly invest in the South Korean stock market using its own capital for the first time, with plans to allocate to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

Market participants believe Temasek views memory chips as a segment within the AI supply chain with relatively low valuations but strong long-term demand potential, and plans to further increase its allocation to AI-related assets over the next five years. If realized, these investments could further bolster market confidence in the long-term growth prospects of South Korea's semiconductor leaders.

Find out more