Japan and South Korea Stocks Open Lower, SK Hynix Opens Down Over 2%, Nikkei 225 Drops 0.3%

TradingKey - During the Asian trading session on May 28, both Japanese and South Korean stock markets opened lower. The South Korean KOSPI index opened down 78.27 points, or 0.95%. Yesterday, the index closed at a record high of 8288.7 points, marking four consecutive sessions of gains.

[Source: TradingView]

SK Hynix opened at 2.189 million won, down 2.41%, before rebounding to trade higher. As of press time, SK Hynix was trading at 2.271 million won, up 1.27%. Samsung Electronics opened at 305,000 won, down approximately 2,000 won or 0.65% from yesterday's close.

On the news front, media reports indicate that SK Hynix rejected funding proposals from U.S. tech giants in order to maintain its supply strategy independence.

Analysis from Yonhap News Agency suggests that the KOSPI's lower opening was primarily driven by two factors: first, a temporary pause in the rally of AI-driven chip stocks; and second, falling oil prices coupled with conflicting signals from peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, which weighed on market sentiment.

Japanese stocks also traded lower in the morning session, failing to sustain their previous momentum. The Nikkei 225 index opened down 197.19 points, or 0.3%. At the sector level, heavyweights were the primary drag, with export-oriented blue chips like Toyota and Sony generally seeing slight pullbacks.

On the macro front, U.S. stocks saw modest gains on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 rising 0.02% to 7520.36, the Nasdaq up 0.07% to 26674.73, and the Dow up 0.36% to 50644.28. However, President Trump subsequently expressed dissatisfaction with negotiations with Iran, sending conflicting signals that added uncertainty to Asian markets.

In currency markets, the USD/JPY fluctuated around the 159.5 level. The slight weakening of the yen provided some support to Japanese exporters, but it was not enough to reverse the overall downward trend.