Samsung, SK Hynix Lead Kospi Higher as Wall Street Faces Tough Opening After Labor Day

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix climbed alongside a broader South Korean rally Tuesday, even as futures pointed toward a weaker Wall Street open following the Labor Day Weekend.

Wall Street reopens Tuesday after the holiday to a tougher macro backdrop. Last week, the 10-year Treasury yield climbed to its highest level since November 2023, and the 2-year note touched a January 2025 high, as investors weighed the risk that persistent inflation could keep the Federal Reserve cautious.

Kospi Extends AI-Driven Rally

The Kospi rose 1.25% to 7,083.84 by late morning in Seoul, building on Monday’s advance of more than 4%, its sharpest single-day move in months, as investors bet that artificial intelligence-related earnings would keep beating expectations.

Samsung Electronics gained 1.48% to 274,000 won, while SK Hynix jumped 3.65% to 1,848,000 won. State-run Korea Electric Power Co. added 3.82%, and refiner SK Innovation rose 1.6%.

Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution slipped, while the won firmed to 1,338.55 per dollar. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.95% and the small-cap Kosdaq Index rose 0.46%. This underscores how unevenly the AI trade is playing out across the region.

The move follows a recent chip stocks offset Iran tensions report and comes as Goldman Sachs strategist Timothy Moe holds a bullish long-term Kospi target tied to a memory chip earnings recovery.

Wall Street Braces as Oil Climbs

US index futures signaled a rougher start. Dow futures fell 308 points, or 0.6%, and oil prices touched six-week highs. It comes after Iran and the United States exchanged strikes over the weekend, with Brent crude up 1.1% to $97.31 a barrel.

Rising energy costs are stoking inflation concerns ahead of Thursday’s wholesale and Friday’s consumer price reports.Traders are pricing roughly a 60% chance of a quarter-point Federal Reserve rate hike at next week’s meeting.

The divergence leaves Seoul’s chip-led rally as one of the few bright spots. This is as the markets head into a week dominated by inflation data and Middle East risk.