Kospi Rebounds Over 2% as SK Hynix Surges 4.5%; Kioxia Plunges Nearly 16% to Weigh on Nikkei

TradingKey - Asian Stocks Diverge in Japan and South Korea: KOSPI Stages Major Comeback to Close Up 2.24%, Kioxia Plunges 15.78% Weighing on Nikkei 225.

During the Asian trading session on November 2, Japanese and South Korean stock markets collectively gapped lower at the open, hit by selling pressure linked to overnight U.S. tech stocks and a wait-and-see atmosphere ahead of the U.S. midterm elections on November 3. However, South Korean equities staged a strong afternoon rally driven by a surge in semiconductor giants, while Japanese stocks closed slightly lower under the weight of negative news from Kioxia's plunge, delivering a relatively muted performance.

The KOSPI opened significantly lower in the morning before strengthening continuously to close up 2.24% at 5,859.08 points. Samsung Electronics breached the 230,000 mark intraday, closing up 1.78% at 229,000 South Korean won; SK Hynix surged 4.51% at the close to end at 1,482,000 South Korean won.

KOSPI Index Chart, Source: TradingView

The Nikkei 225 Index finished down 0.33% at 63,081.64 points. Both major heavyweight stocks declined, with Kioxia plunging 15.78% to close at 11,345 yen and SoftBank falling 1.58% to close at 4,410 yen.

Latest trade data released today by South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed that South Korea's semiconductor exports surged 259% year-on-year in October, confirming that physical demand for HBM and advanced memory from global AI servers remains extremely strong. Furthermore, President Lee Jae-myung delivered a policy address in the National Assembly, stating that 21.3 trillion won will be invested in three super projects—semiconductors, physical AI, and AI data centers—nearly double this year's scale.

The strong fundamental data directly shattered rumors of 'AI capex cuts' triggered by last week's U.S. mega-cap tech earnings, attracting massive bargain-hunting by multinational funds and domestic long-term institutions when the KOSPI opened lower at 5,616 points. In contrast, Japanese memory chip giant Kioxia suffered heavy sell-offs today due to weaker-than-expected earnings guidance and a lack of an HBM high-premium moat, severely suppressing buying confidence in the Japanese semiconductor sector and the Nikkei index.