KOSPI Rebounds on Thursday as Global Markets Remain in Extreme Fear

Global markets experienced a sharp reversal on Thursday after a brutal Wednesday session. The benchmark South Korean KOSPI index rose by nearly 4% to peak at 7,539, pulling it back above the threshold that confirmed a bear market just a day earlier.

The rebound was led by chip stocks, particularly Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which were down after concerns over artificial-intelligence demand worries and leveraged single-stock exchange-traded funds. The memory-chip maker SK Hynix is pressing ahead with a roughly $29 billion Nasdaq listing, drawing intense scrutiny.

UBS recently advised clients to position for a pricing gap between SK Hynix's Seoul and US listings. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley diverged on whether to buy the AI-chip dip, a debate that also touches Asian megacaps such as Alibaba.

The South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol pledged to closely monitor volatility risks tied to leveraged exchange-traded funds, a product class regulators increasingly view as an accelerant during disorderly sessions. Leveraged single-stock ETFs magnified the KOSPI's swings and helped trigger the sidecar halt that briefly froze program trading.

Analysts pointed to spillover from the prior session's weakness alongside deeper structural doubts. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index sat at 22 out of 100, firmly in Extreme Fear, while Bitcoin dominance stood at 69.6%, a defensive posture where capital crowds into the largest asset and abandons smaller tokens.